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THE  HISTORY  OF  NATIONS 

HENRY  CABOT  LODGE,Ph.D.,LLD.  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 


INDIA 


by 

SIR  WILLIAM  W.HUNTER.F.R.S. 

Late  Director-General  of 
Statistics  in  India 
and 

MODERN  PERSIA 

Edited 
by 
GEORGE  M.DUTCHERPhD. 

Professor  of  History 
Wesley  an  University 


Volume    V 


Illustrated 


The  H.W.  Snow  and  Son  Company 

C  h  i   c   a   <§    o 


Copyright,  1907,  by 
JOHN  D.  MORRIS  &  COMPANY 

Copyright,  1910 
THE  H.  W.  SNOW  &  SON  COMPANY 


0£  /  \<\^%o^-ci 


THE   HISTORY   OF  NATIONS 


EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 


HENRY  CABOT  LODGE,  PLD.,  LL.D. 

Associate  Editors  and  Authors 


ARCHIBALD  HENRY  SAYCE,  LL.D., 

Professor     of    Assyriology,     Oxford     Uni- 
versity 


SIR  ROBERT  K.  DOUGLAS, 

Professor  of  Chinese,  King's  College,  Lon- 
don 


CHRISTOPHER  JOHNSTON,  M.D.,  Ph.D., 

Associate  Professor  of  Oriental  History  and 
Archaeology,  Johns  Hopkins  University 


C.  W.  C.  OMAN,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  History,  Oxford  University 


JEREMIAH  WHIPPLE  JENKS,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  Political  Economy  and   Pol- 
itics, Cornell  University 


KANICHI  ASAKAWA,  Ph.D., 

Instructor    in    the    History    of    Japanese 
Civilization,  Yale  University 


THEODOR  MOMMSEN, 

Late   Professor  of   Ancient    History.    Uni- 
versity of  Berlin 


ARTHUR  C.  HOWLAND,  Ph.D., 

Department  of  History,  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania 


WILFRED  HAROLD  MUNRO,  Ph.D., 

Professor    of    European    History,    Brown 

University 


G.  MERCER  ADAM, 

Historian  and  Editor 


FRED  MORROW  FLING,  Ph.D., 

Professor  of  European  History,  University 
of  Nebraska 


CHARLES  MERIVALE,  LL.D., 

Late   Dean  of   Ely,   formerly   Lecturer  in 
History,  Cambridge  University 


FRANCOIS  AUGUSTE  MARIE  MIGNET. 
Late  Member  of  the  French  Academy 


J.  HIGGINSON  CABOT,  Ph.D., 

Department  of  History,  Wellesley  College 


JAMES  WESTFALL  THOMPSON,  Ph.D., 

Department     of     History,     University    of 
Chicago 


SIR  WILLIAM  W.  HUNTER,  F.R.S., 

Late  Director-General  of  Statistics  in  India 


SAMUEL  RAWSON  GARDINER,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  Modern  History,  King's  Col- 
lege. London 


R.  W.  JOYCE,  LL.D., 
GEORGE  M.  DUTCHER,  Ph.D.,  Commissioner  for  the   Publication  of  the 

Professor  of  History,  Wesleyan  University  Ancient  Laws  of  Ireland 

vi 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS  AND  AUTHORS-Continued 


justin  McCarthy,  ll.d., 

Author  and  Historian 

AUGUSTUS  HUNT  SHEARER,  Ph.D.. 

Instructor    in     History,     Trinity    College* 
Hartford 


W.  HAROLD  CLAFLIN,  B.A., 

Department    of    History,     Harvard     Uni- 
versity 


PAUL  LOUIS  LEGER, 

Professor  of  the  Slav  Languages,  C6!le*e 
de  France 


WILLIAM  E.  LINGLEBACH,  Ph.D., 

Assistant  Professor  of  European   History 
University  of  Pennsylvania 

BAYARD  TAYLOR, 

Former  United  States  Minister  to  Germany 


CHARLES  DANDLIKER,  LL.D., 

President  of  Zurich  University 


SIDNEY  B.  FAY,  Ph.D., 

Professor  of  History,    Dartmouth  College 


ELBERT  JAY  BENTON,  Ph.D., 

Department  of  History,  Western  Reserve 
University 


SIR  EDWARD  S.  CREASY, 

Late  Professor  of  History,  University  Col- 
lege, London 

ARCHIBALD  CARY  COOLIDGE,  Ph.D., 

Assistant    Professor   of    History,    Harvard 
University 


WILLIAM  RICHARD  MORFILL,  M.A., 

Professor  of   Russian  and   other  Slavonic 
Languages,  Oxford  University 


CHARLES  EDMUND  FRYER,  Ph.D., 

Department  of  History,  McGill  University 

E.  C.  OTTE, 

Specialist  on  Scandinavian  History 


J.  SCOTT  KELTIE,  LL.D., 

President  Royal  Geographical  Society 


ALBERT  GALLOWAY  KELLER,  Ph.D., 

Assistant  Professor  of  the  Science  of  So- 
ciety, Yale  University 


EDWARD  JAMES  PAYNE,  M.A., 

Fellow  of  University  College,  Oxford 


PHILIP  PATTERSON  WELLS,  Ph.D., 

Lecturer  in  History  and  Librarian  of  the 
Law  School,  Yale  University 


FREDERICK  ALBION  OBER, 

Historian,  Author  and  Traveler 


JAMES  WILFORD  GARNER,  Ph.D., 

Professor  of  Political  Science,   University 
of  Illinois 


EDWARD  S.  CORWIN,  Ph.D., 

Instructor    in     History,     Princeton     Uni- 
versity 


JOHN  BACH  McMASTER,  Litt.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  History,  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania 


JAMES  LAMONT  PERKINS,  Managing"  Editor 


The  editors  and  publishers  desire  to  express  their  appreciation  for  valuable 
advice  and  suggestions  received  from  the  following:  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White, 
LL.D.,  Alfred  Thayer  Mahan,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  Hon.  Charles  Emory  Smith, 
LL.D.,  Professor  Edward  Gaylord  Bourne,  Ph.D.,  Charles  F.  Thwing, 
LL.D.,  Dr.  Emil  Reich,  William  Elliot  Griffis,  LL.D.,  Professor  John 
Martin  Vincent,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Melvil  Dewey,  LL.D.,  Alston  Ellis,  LL.D., 
Professor  Charles  H.  McCarthy,  Ph.D.,  Professor  Herman  V.  Ames,  Ph.D., 
Professor  Walter  L.  Fleming,  Ph.D.,  Professor  David  Y.  Thomas,  Ph.D., 
Mr.  Otto  Reich  and  Mr.  O.  M.  Dickerson. 

vii 


PREFACE 

The  history  of  nearly  every  European  country  affords  the  historian 
a  subject  of  homogeneous  character  for  his  task;  not  so  with  the 
history  of  India,  for  instead  of  one  race,  many  must  be  dealt 
with ;  instead  of  one  religion  the  people  of  India  include  numerous 
devotees  of  nearly  all  the  great  world  faiths;  instead  of  a  single 
state  with  one  form  of  government  with  a  continuous  history, 
there  have  been  numerous  states  with  varying  governmental 
systems,  and  tribes  and  empires  have  crowded  and  jostled  one 
another,  with  dynasty  rapidly  displacing  dynasty.  The  problem  is 
yet  more  difficult,  for  the  historian  of  India  has  always  the  un- 
fathomed  oriental  to  study,  and  then  for  more  than  four  centuries 
must  chronicle  how  the  men  of  the  West  have  come  to  India  to 
win  empires,  and  must  unravel  the  tangled  web  wrought  by 
European  and  Hindu  as  they  have  lived  and  fought  and  toiled 
together. 

No  light  task  is  it,  then,  to  take  up  the  history  of  India  and 
her  peoples.  Probably  no  one  person  has  ever  devoted  himself 
so  completely  and  so  faithfully  to  this  endless  but  endlessly  inter- 
esting task  as  did  Sir  William  Wilson  Hunter.  From  his  arrival 
in  India  in  1861  to  take  up  an  assignment  to  a  minor  post,  he 
labored  "first  to  enable  England  to  learn  India's  wants;  next  to 
help  England  to  think  fairly  of  India;  and,  finally,  to  make  the 
world  feel  the  beauty  and  pathos  of  Indian  life."  In  1869  Lord 
Mayo  appointed  him  to  organize  the  statistical  survey  of  the  Indian 
empire,  and  for  twelve  years  he  toiled,  in  collaboration  with  num- 
erous assistants,  in  the  production  of  the  128  volumes  which 
contain  the  reports  of  that  survey.  The  remainder  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  the  further  pursuit  of  the  same  interesting  studies.  His 
last  work,  a  few  weeks  before  his  death  in  1900,  was  on  his  "  His- 
tory of  British  India  "—a  work  which  every  student  of  Indian 
history  must  regret  will  remain  forever  unfinished. 

In  order  to  put  the  wealth  of  material  contained  in  the  mas- 
sive Statistical  Survey  of  British  India  in  a  convenient  and  easily 


x  PREFACE 

accessible  form,  Hunter  in  1881  brought  out  the  first  edition  of 
the  "  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India,"  of  which  a  second  edition  in 
fourteen  volumes  was  published  in  1885,  and  a  third  edition  is  now 
in  preparation  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Cotton.  The  article,  "  India,"  in  the 
Gazetteer,  fills  the  sixth  volume,  and  a  separate  revised  edition 
of  it  was  published  in  1893  under  the  title  "  The  Indian  Empire, 
Its  People,  History,  and  Products."  The  sixteen  historical  chap- 
ters from  this  work  were  early  published  in  a  somewhat  condensed 
form  under  the  title  of  "  A  Brief  History  of  Indian  Peoples,"  and 
in  a  more  condensed  form  appeared  under  the  article  "  India  "  in 
the  ninth  edition  of  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica." 

More  than  eighty-five  thousand  copies  of  twenty-two  English 
editions  of  the  "  Brief  History  "  were  published  during  the  author's 
life,  and  a  twenty-third  edition  prepared  by  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Hutton 
bears  the  date  1903.  Several  translations  of  the  little  book  have 
been  made,  including  versions  in  some  of  the  languages  of  India. 
It  has  been  widely  used  as  a  text-book  in  India,  and  since  1886  has 
been  required  for  entrance  examination  by  the  Calcutta  University. 
Such  evidences  of  the  authoritative  character  and  the  popularity 
of  the  "  Brief  History  "  are  surely  a  full  warrant  for  the  selection 
of  it  as  one  of  the  volumes  of  THE  HISTORY  OF  NATIONS. 

Sir  William  Hunter  may  be  allowed  in  the  words  of  the 
preface  to  the  first  edition  to  tell  the  aims  of  his  book : 

"  In  this  book  I  try  to  exhibit  the  growth  of  the  Indian 
peoples,  to  show  what  part  they  have  played  in  the  world's  progress, 
and  what  sufferings  they  have  endured  from  other  nations.  Short 
Indian  histories,  as  written  by  Englishmen,  usually  dismiss  the  first 
two  thousand  years  of  their  narrative  in  a  few  pages,  and  start  by 
disclosing  India  as  a  conquered  country.  This  plan  is  not  good, 
either  for  Europeans  in  India  or  for  the  Indians  themselves;  nor 
does  it  accord  with  the  facts.  As  long  as  Indian  history  is 
presented  to  the  Indian  youth  as  nothing  but  a  dreary  record  of 
disunion  and  subjection,  our  Anglo-Indian  schools  can  scarcely 
become  the  nurseries  of  a  self-respecting  nation.  I  have  there- 
fore tried  to  put  together,  from  original  sources,  a  brief  narrative 
of  what  I  believe  to  be  the  true  history  of  the  peoples  of  India. 
These  sources  have  been  carefully  examined  in  my  larger  works. 
This  little  book  merely  states,  without  discussing,  the  results  arrived 
at  by  the  labor  of  thirty  years. 

"  I  have  tried  to  show  how  an  early  gifted  race,  ethnically 


PREFACE  xi 

akin  to  our  own,  welded  the  primitive  forest  tribes  into  settled 
communities.  How  the  nobler  stock,  set  free  from  the  severer 
struggle  for  life  by  the  bounty  of  the  Indian  soil,  created  a  lan- 
guage, a  literature,  and  a  religion,  of  rare  stateliness  and  beauty. 
How  the  very  absence  of  that  strenuous  striving  with  nature,  which 
is  so  necessary  a  discipline  for  nations,  unfitted  them  for  the  great 
conflicts  which  await  all  races.  How,  among  the  most  intellectual 
class,  the  spiritual  and  contemplative  aspects  of  life  overpowered 
the  practical  and  the  political.  How  Hinduism,  while  sufficing  to 
organize  the  Indian  communities  into  social  and  religious  con- 
federacies, failed  to  knit  them  together  into  a  coherent  nation. 

"  India  was  destined,  by  her  position,  to  receive  the  human 
overflow  from  the  ancient  breeding-grounds  of  central  Asia. 
Waves  of  conquest  from  the  north  were  as  inevitable  in  early  times 
as  are  the  tidal  waves  from  the  ocean  at  the  present  day.  But 
such  conquests,  although  rapid,  were  seldom  enduring;  and 
although  widespread,  were  never  complete.  The  religious  and 
social  organization  of  Hinduism  never  succumbed.  The  greatest 
of  India's  conquerors,  the  Moguls,  were  being  hemmed  in  by  Hindu 
confederacies  before  their  supremacy  had  lasted  175  years.  So  far 
as  can  now  be  estimated,  the  advance  of  the  British  alone  saved 
the  Delhi  empire  from  dismemberment  by  three  Hindu  military 
powers,  the  Marathas,  Rajputs,  and  Sikhs.  The  British  rule  has 
endured  because  it  is  wielded  in  the  joint  interest  of  the  Indian 
races. 

"  But  while  these  thoughts  have  long  been  present  in  my  mind, 
I  have  not  obtruded  them  on  my  pages.  For  I  hope  that  this  little 
book  will  reach  the  hands  of  many  who  look  on  history  as  a  record 
of  events,  rather  than  as  a  compendium  of  philosophy.  The 
greatest  service  which  an  Indian  historian  can  at  present  render 
to  India,  is  to  state  the  facts  accurately  and  in  such  a  way  that  they 
will  be  read.  If  my  story  is  found  to  combine  truth  with  sim- 
plicity, it  will  have  attained  all  that  I  aimed  at.  If  it  teaches  young 
Englishmen  and  young  natives  of  India  to  think  more  kindly  of 
each  other,  I  shall  esteem  myself  richly  rewarded." 

In  prefacing  his  twenty-first  edition,  the  author  adds :  "  On 
my  own  part,  no  pains  have  been  spared  to  render  this  edition  an 
improvement  on  its  predecessors.  Although  compressed  into  a 
small  size,  it  essays  to  embody  the  latest  results  of  Indian  historical 
research,  and  of  that  more  critical  examination  of  the  Indian  records 


xii  PREFACE 

which  forms  so  important  a  feature  of  recent  Indian  work.  My 
endeavor  has  been  to  present  the  history  of  India  in  an  attractive 
and  accurate  narrative,  yet  within  a  compass  which  will  place  it 
within  reach  of  the  ordinary  English  and  American  reader,  and 
render  it  available  as  a  text-book  for  English  and  Indian  colleges 
or  schools."  Acknowledgment  is  also  made  to  the  various  scholars 
who  had  rendered  him  service  in  the  preparation  of  the  new  edition, 
and  especially  to  Mr.  H.  Morse  Stephens,  who  was  then  Lecturer 
on  Indian  History  to  the  University  of  Cambridge,  but  is  now 
Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of  California.  It  is  to 
Professor  Stephens  that  the  editor  is  indebted  for  his  interest  in 
the  history  of  India,  and  for  much  of  his  knowledge  of  the  subject. 

This  edition  is  based  upon  the  twenty-third  English  edition  by 
the  kind  permission  of  the  delegates  of  the  Clarendon  Press,  who 
have  courteously  extended  the  privilege  of  preparing  the  revised 
work  for  American  readers. 

The  author's  text  has  been  preserved  as  completely  as  possible, 
but  slight  changes  have  been  made  to  adapt  the  volume  to  this 
series  and  a  few  slight  errors  have  been  corrected.  In  addition  to 
these  merely  verbal  changes,  a  few  irrelevant  sentences  have  been 
omitted.  Additions  of  two  sorts  have  been  made.  Sentences,  and, 
in  some  places,  paragraphs,  have  been  inserted  to  cover  certain 
points  which  the  author  had  omitted  for  the  sake  of  condensation, 
but  which  it  has  been  deemed  desirable  to  insert  to  make  the  account 
more  complete  and  satisfactory.  Such  insertions  are  drawn,  as 
far  as  possible,  from  material  in  other  books  by  Sir  William 
Hunter.  In  place  of  chapter  XII  the  more  complete  corresponding 
chapter  from  Hunter's  "  Indian  Empire "  has  been  inserted,  pre- 
ceded by  an  account  of  the  development  of  European  knowledge 
of  India,  written  by  the  editor.  Chapter  XVI  has  been  expanded 
by  the  editor  and  brought  down  to  date,  but  Hunter's  text  is 
preserved  as  far  as  possible.  In  addition  to  these  changes,  the 
editor  has  inserted  additional  matter,  intended  in  part  to  elucidate 
and  in  part  to  supplement  the  author's  text.  To  most  American 
readers  reference  books  on  India  are  not  easily  accessible,  so  that 
it  has  been  thought  desirable  to  give  much  supplementary  informa- 
tion that  would  be  unnecessary  in  the  histories  of  other  countries 
for  which  reference  books  are  more  plentiful  and  satisfactory. 
Several  appendixes  have  been  inserted  as  likely  to  be  of  use  to 
the  reader  and  the  student,  and  the  bibliography,  without  any  pre- 


PREFACE  xiii 

tension  to  completeness,  has  been  made  full  because  the  student, 
dependent  upon  the  scant  collections  of  Indian  works  in  American 
libraries,  may  thus  be  enabled  to  find  some  one  book,  though  all 
the  rest  are  not  accessible. 

It  is  the  hope  of  the  editor  that  his  part  in  the  volume  may 
contribute  even  in  a  slight  measure  to  the  accomplishment  of  the 
author's  lofty  purpose  to  make  India  better  known  and  understood 
by  the  West,  and  to  win  for  India  the  sympathy  of  the  peoples  who 
have  attained  to  a  degree  of  civilization,  perhaps  not  always  more 
advanced  than  that  of  India,  but  always  so  vastly  different. 

The  editor  takes  pleasure  in  this  place  in  acknowledging  his 
indebtedness  to  friends  who  have  assisted  him  in  various  ways  in 
the  preparation  of  this  volume. 


iH^y  juj^jjgg^; 


Wesleyan  University 


CONTENTS 


INDIA 

CHAPTER 

I.  The  Country 
II.  The  People 

III.  The  Non-Aryans 

IV.  The  Aryans  in  India 
V.  Buddhism.    543  b.  c.-iooo  a.  d. 

VI.  The  Greeks  in  India.    327-161  b.  c. 
VII.  The  Scythic  Inroads.     100  b.  c-725  a.  d. 
VIII.  Growth  of  Hinduism.    700-1500 
IX.  Early  Mohammedan  Conquerors.     714-1526 
X.  The  Mogul  Dynasty.    1526-1761 
XI.  The  Marathas.     1650-1818 
XII.  Early  European  Settlements.    1498-1800 

XIII.  Growth  of  British  Power.    1700-1805     . 

XIV.  The  Consolidation  of  British  India.    1805-1857 
XV.  The  Sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857 

XVI.  India  Under  the  British  Crown.    1858- 1906 


PAGE 

3 
20 

25 
36 
56 

67 
72 

75 

88 

109 

130 

138 
178 
204 
232 
242 


PERSIA 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

1.  The  Sassanian  Dynasty.    218-643  a.  d.          .         .  313 
II.  Foreign  Rule.     643-1502 325 

III.  The  New  Persian  Empire.    1502- 1733     .         .         .  340 

IV.  Modern  Persia.    1733-1906 351 

V.  The  Government  of  Persia 371 

The  Opening  of  Tibet  .....•••  377 

The  Currency  Question  in  India  ....  3^3 

Famines  of  India 3°° 

Bibliography         .....*•••  393 

Index •        •        •  4°5 

XV 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

At  the  Court  of  the  Mogul  at  Delhi  (Photogravure)  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Buddha  and  His  Disciples 56 

The  Interior  of  a  Jain  Temple     .         .         .         .         .         .64 

The   Interior   of   the   Hindu    Temple   on   the   Island   of 

Rameswaram 84 

The  Maratha  Maharajar  of  Holkar  at  the  Battle  of  Assaye  136 

Warren  Hastings 188 

The  Storming  of  Seringapatam  200 

The  Amir  of  Sind  Surrenders  to  Sir  Charles  Napier     .         .218 
The  Punishment  of  the  Rebellious  Sepoys  .         .         .  238 

The  Prince  of  Wales  in  India 308 

The  Bodyguard  of  a  Persian  King  (Colored)         .         .         .  318 
In  a  Persian  Carpet  Bazaar        .        ..         .         .        ..         .  368 


TEXT  MAPS 

India — Physical  Features  .        .        , 

Alexander's  Empire  in  the  East 

The  Five  Maratha  Houses    . 

Early  English  Settlements  in  India    . 

Anglo-India.     1760        . 

British  Possessions  in  Farther  India 

The  Railroads  of  India         .         .        ,., 

The  Mutiny  ..... 

The  Indian  Empire.    1886      .         .        ... 

The  Plague  Districts.     1896-1906 

Greatest  Extent  of  the  Persian  Empire 

Religious  Status.    700  a.  d. 

Asia.    Circa  1400  a.  d. 

Modern  Persia       ...... 

The  Russian  Advance  in  Central  Asia 


PAGE 

14 

68 

134 
164 

185 
211 
224 
236 
268 
284 
3i7 
327 
338 
345 
367 


HISTORY  OF  INDIA 


HISTORY  OF  INDIA 

Chapter  I 

THE    COUNTRY 

INDIA  is  a  great  three-cornered  country,  stretching  southward 
from  mid-Asia  into  the  ocean.  Its  northern  base  rests  upon 
the  Himalaya  ranges;  the  chief  part  of  its  western  side  is 
washed  by  the  Arabian  Sea,  and  the  chief  part  of  its  eastern  side 
by  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  While  thus  guarded  along  the  whole  length 
of  its  boundaries  by  nature's  defenses,  the  mountains  and  the  ocean, 
it  has  on  its  northeastern  and  on  its  northwestern  frontiers  two 
opposite  sets  of  gateways  which  connect  it  with  the  rest  of  Asia. 
On  the  northeast  it  is  bounded  by  the  wild  hill  regions  between 
Burma  and  the  Chinese  empire  or  Tibet ;  on  the  northwest  by  the 
Mohammedan  states  of  Afghanistan  and  Baluchistan;  and  two 
streams  of  population  of  widely  diverse  types  have  poured  into 
India  by  the  passes  at  these  northeastern  and  northwestern  corners. 
India  extends  from  the  eighth  to  the  thirty-sixth  degree  of 
north  latitude,  that  is,  from  the  hot  regions  near  the  equator  to  far 
within  the  temperate  zone,  and  approximately  from  the  latitude  of 
Panama  to  the  latitude  of  Nashville,  or  from  Sierra  Leone  to  Gib- 
raltar. The  capital,  Calcutta,  lies  in  88  degrees  of  east  longitude ; 
so  that,  when  the  sun  sets  at  six  o'clock  there,  it  is  just  past  midday 
in  England,  and  at  Washington,  which  is  just  eleven  hours  later 
than  Calcutta,  it  would  be  only  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The 
length  of  India  from  north  to  south,  and  its  greatest  breadth  from 
east  to  west,  are  both  about  1900  miles;  but  it  tapers  with  a  pear- 
shaped  curve  to  a  point  at  Cape  Comorin,  its  southern  extremity. 
To  this  compact  dominion  the  English  have  added  Burma,  or  the 
country  on  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  The  whole 
territory  thus  described  contains  over  1,750,000  square  miles,  and 
294,000,000  of  inhabitants.  India,  therefore,  has  an  area  almost 
equal  to,  and  a  population  in  excess  of,  the  area  and  population 
of  all  Europe,  less  Russia ;  it  is  very  nearly  equal  to  the  area  of  the 
United  States  east  of  Montana,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  and  New 


4,  INDIA 

Mexico;  and  the  population  is  about  three  and  one-half  times  the 
total  population  of  the  United  States  and  its  dependencies. 

This  noble  empire  is  rich  in  varieties  of  scenery  and  climate, 
from  the  highest  mountains  in  the  world  to  vast  river-deltas,  raised 
only  a  few  inches  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  teems  with  the 
products  of  nature,  from  the  fierce  beasts  and  tangled  jungles  of 
the  tropics,  to  the  stunted  barley  crop  which  the  hillman  rears,  and 
the  small  furred  animal  which  he  traps,  within  sight  of  the  eternal 
snow.  If  we  could  look  down  on  the  whole  from  a  balloon,  we 
should  find  that  India  is  made  up  of  four  well-defined  tracts.  The 
first  includes  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  which  shut  India  out  from 
the  rest  of  Asia  on  the  north ;  the  second  stretches  southward  from 
their  foot,  and  comprises  the  plains  of  the  great  rivers  which  issue 
from  the  Himalayas;  the  third  tract  slopes  upward  again  from  the 
southern  edge  of  the  river  plains,  and  consists  of  a  high,  three- 
sided  tableland,  dotted  with  peaks,  and  covering  the  southern  half 
of  India ;  the  fourth  is  Burma  on  the  east  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 

The  first  of  these  four  regions  is  composed  of  the  Himalayas 
and  their  offshoots  to  the  southward.  The  Himalayas  (meaning, 
in  Sanskrit,  the  abode  of  snow)  form  two  irregular  mountain  walls, 
running  nearly  parallel  to  each  other  east  and  west,  with  a  hollow 
trough  or  valley  beyond.  The  southernmost  of  these  walls  rises 
steeply  from  the  plains  of  India  to  over  20,000  feet,  or  four  miles 
in  height.  It  culminates  in  Mount  Everest  (named  for  Sir  George 
Everest,  a  surveyor  general  of  India),  29,002  feet,  the  highest 
peak  in  the  world.  The  crests  then  subside  on  the  northward  into 
a  series  of  dips,  lying  about  13,000  feet  above  the  sea.  Behind  these 
dips  rises  the  inner  range  of  the  Himalayas,  a  second  wall  of  moun- 
tains and  snow.  Beyond  the  double  wall  thus  formed  is  the  great 
trough  or  line  of  valleys  in  which  the  Indus,  the  Sutlej,  and  the 
Brahmaputra  gather  their  waters.  From  the  northern  side  of  these 
valleys  rises  the  tableland  of  Tibet,  16,000  feet  above  the  sea.  The 
Himalayas  shut  out  India  from  the  rest  of  Asia.  Their  heights  be- 
tween Tibet  and  India  are  crowned  with  eternal  snow;  while  vast 
glaciers,  one  of  which  is  known  to  be  sixty  miles  in  length,  slowly 
move  their  masses  of  ice  downward  to  the  valleys.  This  wild 
region  is  in  many  parts  impenetrable  to  man,  and  nowhere  yields  a 
route  for  an  army,  but  bold  parties  of  traders,  wrapped  in  sheep- 
skins, force  their  way  across  its  passes,  18,000  feet  high.  The  bones 
of  worn-out  mules  and  ponies  mark  their  path.     The  little  yak 


THE     COUNTRY  5 

cow,  whose  bushy  tail  is  manufactured  into  lace  in  Europe,  is  em- 
ployed in  the  Himalayas  as  a  beast  of  burden,  and  patiently  toils 
up  the  steepest  gorges  with  a  heavy  load  on  her  back.  The  sheep 
are  also  used  to  carry  bags  of  borax  to  markets  near  the  plains. 
They  are  then  shorn  of  their  fleeces  and  eaten  as  mutton.  A  few 
return  into  the  inner  mountains  laden  with  sugar  and  cloth. 

The  Himalayas  not  only  form  a  double  wall  along  the  north 
of  India,  but  at  both  ends  send  out  hilly  offshoots  southward,  which 
protect  its  northeastern  and  northwestern  boundaries.  On  the 
northeast,  these  offshoots,  under  the  name  of  the  Naga  and  Patkoi 
Mountains,  form  a  barrier  between  the  civilized  British  districts 
and  the  wild  tribes  of  upper  Burma,  but  the  barrier  is  pierced,  just 
at  the  corner  where  it  strikes  southward  from  the  Himalayas,  by 
a  passage  through  which  the  Brahmaputra  River  rushes  into  the 
Assam  Valley.  On  the  opposite  or  northwestern  frontier  of  India, 
the  hilly  offshoots  run  down  .the  entire  length  of  the  British  boun- 
dary from  the  Himalayas  to  the  sea.  As  they  proceed  southward, 
they  are  in  turn  known  as  the  Safed  Koh,  the  Sulaiman  Range,  and 
the  Hala  Mountains.  This  western  barrier  has  peaks  over  11,000 
feet  in  height ;  but  it  is  pierced  at  the  corner  where  it  strikes  south- 
ward from  the  Himalayas  by  an  opening,  the  Khaibar  Pass,  near 
which  the  Kabul  River  flows  into  India.  The  Khaibar  Pass,  3400 
feet  high,  with  the  Kuram  Pass  to  the  south  of  it,  the  Gwalari  Pass 
near  Dera  Ismail  Khan,  and  the  famous  Bolan  Pass,  5800  feet 
high,  still  farther  south,  form  the  gateways  from  India  to  Afghan- 
istan and  Baluchistan. 

Portions  of  this  mountainous  region  iormed  by  the  Himalayas 
and  their  offshoots  and  foothills  are  included  within  the  provinces 
of  Burma,  Assam,  the  United  Provinces,  and  the  Punjab,  while 
the  Northwest  Frontier  Province,  formed  in  1901,  is  distinctively 
a  mountain  region  and  controls  the  important  Khaibar,  Kuram,  and 
Gwalari  Passes.  British  Baluchistan  lies  largely  on  the  further 
side  of  the  mountains  and  controls  the  famous  Bolan  Pass.  The 
independent  native  states  of  Bhutan  and  Nepal,  and  the  dependent 
natives  states  of  Sikkim  and  Kashmir,  lie  in  the  Himalayas  along 
the  northern  frontier ;  and  on  the  west  is  Baluchistan,  with  various 
petty  native  states  extending  along  the  frontier  northward  to  Chit- 
ral,  at  the  junction  of  the  Hindu  Kush  and  the  Himalayas. 

The  rugged  Himalayas,  while  thus  keeping  out  enemies,  are 
a  source  of  food  and  wealth  to  the  Indian  people.    They  collect  and 


6  INDIA 

store  up  water  for  the  hot  plains  below.  Throughout  the  summer, 
vast  quantities  of  moisture  are  exhaled  from  the  distant  tropical 
seas.  This  moisture  gathers  into  vapor,  and  is  carried  northward 
by  the  monsoon,  or  regular  wind,  which  sets  in  from  the  south  in 
the  month  of  June.  The  monsoon  drives  the  masses  of  vapor  north- 
ward before  it  across  the  length  and  breadth  of  India, — sometimes 
in  the  form  of  long  processions  of  clouds,  which  a  native  poet  has 
likened  to  flights  of  great  white  birds;  sometimes  in  the  shape  of 
rainstorms,  which  crash  through  the  forests,  and  leave  a  line  of 
unroofed  villages  and  flooded  fields  on  their  track.  The  moisture 
which  does  not  fall  as  rain  on  its  aerial  voyage  over  India  is  at 
length  dashed  against  the  Himalayas.  These  stop  its  further  prog- 
ress northward,  and  the  moisture  descends  as  rain  on  their  outer 
slopes,  or  is  frozen  into  snow  in  its  attempts  to  cross  their  inner 
heights.  Very  little  moisture  passes  beyond  them,  so  that  while 
their  southern  sides  receive  the  heaviest  rainfall  in  the  world,  and 
pour  it  down  in  torrents  to  the  Indian  rivers,  the  great  plain  of 
Tibet  on  the  north  gets  scarcely  any  rain.  At  Cherra  Punji,  where 
the  monsoon  first  strikes  the  hills  in  Assam,  523  inches  of  rain  fall 
annually;  while  in  one  year  (1861)  as  many  as  805  inches  are  re- 
ported to  have  poured  down,  of  which  366  inches  fell  in  the  single 
month  of  June.  While,  therefore,  the  mean  annual  rainfall  of 
either  Boston,  New  York,  or  Washington  is  about  45  inches,  and 
London  about  two  feet,  and  that  of  the  plains  of  India  from  one 
to  seven,  the  usual  rainfall  at  Cherra  Punji  is  thirty  feet,  or  enough 
to  float  the  largest  man-of-war;  while  in  one  year  sixty-seven  feet 
of  water  fell  from  the  sky,  or  sufficient  to  drown  a  four-story 
building. 

This  neavy  rainfall  renders  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Hima- 
layas very  fertile.  Their  upper  ranges  form  bare  gray  masses, 
but  wherever  there  is  any  depth  of  soil  a  forest  springs  up ;  and  the 
damp  belt  of  lowland  at  their  foot,  called  the  Tarai,  is  covered  with 
a  dense  fever-breeding  jungle,  habitable  only  by  a  few  rude  tribes 
and  wild  beasts.  Thickets  of  tree-ferns  and  bamboos  adorn  their 
eastern  ranges;  tracts  of  rhododendron,  which  here  grows  into  a 
forest  tree,  blaze  red  and  pink  in  the  spring ;  the  deodar,  or  Hima- 
layan cedar,  rises  in  dark  stately  masses.  The  branches  of  the  trees 
are  themselves  clothed  with  mosses,  ferns,  and  flowering  creepers 
or  orchids.  In  the  autumn,  crops  of  red  and  yellow  millet  run  in 
ribbons  of  brilliant  color  down  the  hillsides.     The  chief  saleable 


THE     COUNTRY  7 

products  of  the  Himalayas  are  timber  and  charcoal;  barley,  small 
grains  or  millets,  grown  in  the  hot  valleys  and  upon  terraces  formed 
with  much  labor  on  the  slopes;  potatoes,  other  vegetables,  and 
honey.  Strings  of  ponies  and  mules  straggle  with  their  burdens 
along  the  narrow  paths,  at  places  cut  out  of  the  sheer  precipice. 
The  muleteers  and  their  hard-working  wives  load  themselves  also 
with  pine  stems  and  conical  baskets  of  grain. 

The  high  price  of  wood  on  the  plains  has  caused  many  of  the 
hills  to  be  stripped  of  their  trees,  so  that  the  rainfall  now  rushes 
quickly  down  their  bare  slopes,  and  no  new  woods  can  spring  up. 
The  potato  crop,  introduced  from  England,  led  to  a  further  destruc- 
tion of  timber.  The  hillman  cleared  his  potato  ground  by  burning 
a  ring  round  the  trunks  of  the  great  trees,  and  laying  out  the  side 
of  the  mountain  into  terraces.  In  a  few  years  the  bark  dropped 
off  the  trees,  and  the  forest  stood  bleached  and  ruined.  Some  of 
the  trees  rotted  on  the  ground,  like  giants  fallen  in  a  confused  fight ; 
others  still  remain  upright,  with  white  trunks  and  skeleton  arms. 
In  the  end,  the  rank  green  potato  crop  marked  the  spot  where  a  for- 
est had  been  slain  and  buried.  Several  of  the  ruder  hill  tribes  fol- 
lowed an  even  more  wasteful  mode  of  tillage.  Destitute  of  either 
plows  or  cattle,  they  burned  down  the  jungle,  and  exhausted  the  soil 
by  a  quick  succession  of  crops,  raised  by  the  hoe.  In  a  year  or  two 
the  whole  settlement  moved  off  to  a  fresh  patch  of  jungle,  which 
they  cleared  and  exhausted,  and  then  deserted  in  like  manner.  The 
forests  of  India  are  now  under  the  charge  of  the  forest  department 
of  the  government  of  India  and  of  the  provincial  forest  depart- 
ments. The  father  of  Indian  forestry  was  a  German,  Dietrich 
Brandis  (born  1824,  knighted  1887),  who  was  called  from  the 
University  of  Bonn  by  Lord  Dalhousie  and  sent  to  British  Burma 
in  1856.  He  became  the  first  inspector-general  of  forests  in  1864 
and  held  the  office  until  1883.  He  at  first  arranged  for  the  training 
of  his  English  subordinates  at  the  French  school  at  Nancy  and  at 
the  German  schools,  but  in  1885  a  course  in  forestry  was  established 
at  the  Royal  Indian  Engineering  College  at  Cooper's  Hill.  ^  Native 
foresters  are  trained  at  the  school  opened  at  Dehra  Dun  in  1878 
and  at  the  newer  schools  at  Poona  and  at  Tharawadi.  The  Indian 
forest  administration  *  is  now  regulated  by  an  act  passed  in  1878. 

1  Berthold  Ribbentrop,  who  was  inspector-general  from  1889  to  1900,  has 
published  "Forestry  in  British  India"  (Calcutta,  1900),  which  may  be  consulted 
in  addition  to  the  various  official  reports  and  surveys  which  have  been  published 
by  the  Indian  and  provincial  governments. 


8  INDIA 

The  special  feature  of  the  Himalayas,  however,  is  that  they 
send  down  the  rainfall  from  their  northern  as  well  as  from  their 
southern  slopes  upon  the  Indian  plains.  For,  as  we  have  seen,  they 
form  a  double  mountain-wall,  with  a  deep  trough  or  valley  beyond. 
Even  the  rainfall  which  passes  beyond  their  outer  or  southern 
heights  is  stopped  by  their  inner  or  northern  ridges,  and  drains  into 
the  trough  behind.  Of  the  three  great  rivers  of  India — the  two 
longest — namely,  the  Indus  and  the  Brahmaputra — take  their  rise 
in  this  trough  lying  on  the  north  of  the  double  wall  of  the  Hima- 
layas; while  the  third,  the  Ganges,  receives  its  waters  from  their 
southern  slopes. 

The  Indus,  with  its  mighty  feeder  the  Sutlej,  and  the  Brahma- 
putra rise  not  very  far  from  each  other,  in  lonely  valleys,  which  are 
separated  from  India  by  mountain  barriers  15,000  feet  high.  The 
Indus  and  the  Sutlej  first  flow  westward.  Then,  turning  south, 
through  openings  in  the  Himalayas,  they  join  with  shorter  rivers  in 
the  Punjab,  and  their  united  stream  falls  into  the  Indian  Ocean 
after  a  course  of  1800  miles. 

The  Brahmaputra,  on  the  other  hand,  strikes  to  the  east,  flow- 
ing behind  the  Himalayas  until  it  searches  out  a  passage  for  itself 
through  their  clefts  at  the  northeastern  corner  of  Assam.  It  then 
turns  sharply  round  to  the  west,  and  afterward  to  the  south,  and  so 
finally  reaches  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  Like  the  Indus,  it  has  a  course 
of  about  1800  miles.  Thus,  while  the  Indus  and  the  Brahmaputra 
rise  close  to  each  other  behind  the  Himalayas,  and  run  an  almost 
equal  course,  their  mouths  lie  1500  miles  apart,  on  the  opposite 
sides  of  India.  Both  of  them  have  a  long  secret  existence  in  the 
trough  between  the  double  mountain  wall  before  they  pierce 
through  the  hills ;  and  they  bring  to  the  Indian  plains  the  drainage 
from  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas.  Indeed,  the  first  part 
of  the  course  of  the  Brahmaputra  is  still  unexplored.  It  bears  the 
name  of  the  Sanpu  for  nearly  a  thousand  miles  of  its  passage  be- 
hind the  Himalayan  wall,  and  it  is  not  till  it  bursts  through  the 
mountains  into  India  that  the  noble  stream  receives  its  Sanskrit 
name  of  Brahmaputra,  the  son  of  Brahma  or  God. 

The  Ganges  and  its  great  tributary  the  Jumna  collect  the 
drainage  from  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas;  they  join  their 
waters  to  those  of  the  Brahmaputra  as  they  approach  the  sea, 
and,  after  a  course  of  1 500  miles,  enter  the  Bay  of  Bengal  by  a  vast 
network  of  channels. 


THE     COUNTRY  9 

The  wide  plains  watered  by  the  Himalayan  rivers  form  the 
second  of  the  four  regions  into  which  I  have  divided  India.  They 
extend  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal  on  the  east  to  the  Indian  Ocean  on 
the  west,  and  contain  the  richest  and  most  densely-crowded  prov- 
inces of  the  Indian  empire.  One  set  of  invaders  after  another  have, 
from  very  ancient  times,  entered  by  the  passes  at  their  northeastern 
and  northwestern  corners,  and,  following  the  courses  of  the  rivers, 
pushed  the  earlier  comers  south  toward  the  sea.  About  150,000,000 
of  people  now  live  on  and  around  these  river  plains,  in  the  provinces 
known  as  Lower  Bengal,  Assam,  the  United  Provinces,  the  Punjab, 
and  Sind,  and  in  Rajputana,  and  other  native  states.  The  Indus 
brings  water  from  the  Himalayas  to  the  western  side  of  the  river 
plains  of  northern  India,  the  Brahmaputra  to  their  eastern,  while 
the  Ganges  and  its  feeders  fertilize  their  central  region. 

The  Indus,  after  it  unites  the  five  rivers  of  the  Punjab,  ceases 
to  obtain  further  tributaries,  and  the  great  desert  of  Rajputana 
stretches  from  its  left  bank.  The  Brahmaputra,  on  the  extreme 
east  of  the  plains,  passes  down  the  still  thinly-inhabited  valley  of 
Assam;  and  it  is  only  in  the  lower  part  of  its  course,  as  it  ap- 
proaches the  Ganges,  that  a  dense  population  is  found  on  its  mar- 
gin. But  the  Ganges  and  its  great  tributary  the  Jumna  flow  for 
nearly  a  thousand  miles  almost  parallel  to  the  Himalayas,  and  re- 
ceive many  streams  from  them.  They  do  the  work  of  water-carrier 
for  most  of  northern  India,  and  the  people  reverence  the  bountiful 
rivers  which  fertilize  their  fields.  The  sources  of  the  Ganges  and 
Jumna  in  the  mountains  are  held  sacred ;  their  point  of  junction  at 
Allahabad  is  yearly  visited  by  thousands  of  pilgrims;  and  a  great 
religious  gathering  takes  place  each  January  on  Sagar  Island, 
where  the  united  stream  formerly  poured  into  the  sea.  To  bathe 
in  Mother  Ganges,  as  she  is  lovingly  called,  purified  from  sin  during 
life ;  and  the  devout  Hindu  died  in  the  hope  that  his  ashes  would 
be  borne  by  her  waters  to  the  ocean.  The  Ganges  is  also  a  river 
of  great  cities.  Calcutta,  Patna,  and  Benares  are  built  on  her 
banks ;  Agra  and  Delhi  on  those  of  her  tributary  the  Jumna ;  and 
Allahabad  on  the  tongue  of  land  where  the  two  sister  streams 

unite. 

In  order  to  understand  the  Indian  plains,  we  must  have  a  clear 
idea  of  the  part  played  by  these  great  rivers;  for  the  rivers  first 
create  the  land,  then  fertilize  it,  and  finally  distribute  its  produce. 
The  plains  were  in  many  parts  upheaved  by  volcanic  forces,  or  de- 


10  INDIA 

posited  in  an  aqueous  era,  long  before  man  appeared  on  the  earth. 
In  other  parts  the  plains  of  northern  India  have  been  formed  out 
of  the  silt  which  the  rivers  bring  down  from  the  mountains,  and  at 
this  day  we  may  stand  by  and  watch  the  ancient,  silent  process  of 
land-making  go  on.  A  great  Bengal  river  like  the  Ganges  has  two 
distinct  stages  in  its  career  from  the  Himalayas  to  the  sea.  In  the 
first  stage  of  its  course,  it  runs  along  the  bottom  of  valleys,  receives 
the  drainage  and  mud  of  the  country  on  both  sides,  absorbs  tribu- 
taries, and  rushes  forward  with  an  ever-increasing  volume  of  water 
and  silt.  By  the  time  that  the  Ganges  reaches  the  middle  of  Lower 
Bengal,  it  enters  on  the  second  stage  of  its  life.  Finding  its  speed 
checked  by  the  equal  level  of  the  plains,  it  splits  out  into  several 
channels,  like  a  jet  of  water  suddenly  obstructed  by  the  finger,  or 
a  jar  of  liquid  dashed  on  the  floor.  Each  of  the  new  streams  thus 
created  throws  off  its  own  set  of  channels  to  left  and  right. 

The  country  which  these  numerous  channels  or  offshoots  in- 
close and  intersect  forms  the  delta  of  Bengal.  The  network  of 
streams  struggles  slowly  across  this  vast  flat;  and  the  currents  are 
no  longer  able,  owing  to  their  diminished  speed,  to  carry  along  the 
silt  or  sand  which  the  more  rapid  parent  river  had  brought  down 
from  northern  India.  The  sluggish  split-up  rivers  of  the  delta  ac- 
cordingly drop  their  burden  of  silt  in  their  channels  or  on  their 
margins,  producing  almond-shaped  islands,  and  by  degrees  raising 
their  beds  above  the  surrounding  plains.  In  this  way  the  rivers  of 
a  delta  build  themselves  up,  as  it  were,  into  high-level  canals,  which 
in  the  rainy  season  overflow  their  banks,  and  leave  their  silt  upon 
the  low  country  on  either  side.  Thousands  of  square  miles  in 
Lower  Bengal  thus  receive  each  autumn  a  top-dressing  of  new  soil, 
brought  free  of  cost  by  the  river  currents  from  the  distant  Hima- 
layas— a  system  of  natural  manuring  which  yields  a  constant  suc- 
cession of  rich  crops. 

As  the  rivers  creep  further  down  the  delta,  they  become  more 
and  more  sluggish,  and  raise  their  beds  still  higher  above  the  ad- 
jacent plains.  Each  set  of  channels  has  a  depressed  tract  or  swamp 
on  both  sides,  so  that  the  lowest  levels  in  a  delta  lie  often  about 
half-way  between  the  rivers.  The  stream  overflows  into  these  de- 
pressed tracts,  and  gradually  fills  them  up  with  its  silt.  The  water 
which  rushes  from  the  rivers  into  the  swamps  is  sometimes  yellow 
from  the  quantity  of  silt  or  sand  which  it  carries.  When  it  has 
stood  a  few  days  in  the  swamps,  and  the  river  flood  subsides,  the 


THE     COUNTRY  n 

water  flows  back  from  the  swamps  into  the  river  channels ;  but  it 
has  dropped  all  its  silt,  and  is  of  a  clear,  dark-brown  hue.  The  silt 
remains  in  the  swamp,  and  by  degrees  fills  it  up,  thus  slowly  creat- 
ing new  land. 

The  last  scene  in  the  life  of  an  Indian  river  is  a  wilderness  of 
forest  and  swamp  at  the  end  of  its  delta,  amid  whose  malarious 
solitudes  the  network  of  channels  merges  into  the  sea.  Here  all 
the  secrets  of  land-making  stand  disclosed.  The  streams,  finally 
checked  by  the  dead  weight  of  the  sea,  deposit  their  remaining  silt, 
which  rises  above  the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  shape  of  banks  or 
curved  headlands.  The  ocean  currents  also  find  themselves  im- 
peded by  the  downflow  from  the  rivers,  and  drop  the  burden  of 
sand  which  the  tides  sweep  along  the  coast.  In  this  way,  while 
the  shore  gradually  grows  out  into  the  sea,  owing  to  the  deposit  of 
river  silt,  islands  or  bars  are  formed  around  the  river  mouths  from 
the  sand  dropped  by  the  ocean  currents,  and  a  double  process  of 
land-making  goes  on. 

The  great  Indian  rivers,  therefore,  not  only  supply  new  ground 
by  depositing  islands  in  their  beds,  and  by  filling  up  the  low-lying 
tracts  or  swamps  beyond  their  margins,  but  also  by  forming  banks 
and  capes  and  masses  of  land  at  their  mouths.  They  slowly  con- 
struct their  deltas  by  driving  back  the  sea.  The  land  which  they 
thus  create,  they  also  fertilize.  In  the  lower  parts  of  their  course 
their  overflow  affords  a  natural  system  of  irrigation  and  manuring ; 
in  the  higher  parts,  man  has  to  step  in,  and  to  bring  their  water 
by  canals  to  the  fields.  They  form,  moreover,  cheap  highways  for 
carrying  the  produce  of  the  country  to  the  towns  and  seaports ;  and 
what  the  arteries  are  to  the  human  body,  the  rivers  are  to  the  plains 
of  Bengal. 

But  the  very  vastness  of  their  energy  causes  terrible  calamities. 
Scarcely  a  year  passes  without  floods,  which  sweep  off  cattle  and 
grain  stores,  and  the  thatched  cottages,  with  anxious  families 
perched  on  their  roofs.  In  the  upper  part  of  their  courses,  where 
their  water  is  carried  by  canals  to  the  fields,  the  rich  irrigated  lands 
sometimes  breed  fever,  and  are  in  places  destroyed  and  rendered 
sterile  by  a  saline  crust  called  reh.  The  formation  of  reh  has  been 
described  by  Eliot  James  as  follows :  "  Where  the  subsoil  water 
level  is  sufficiently  near  the  surface,  the  strong  evaporating  force 
of  the  sun's  heat,  aided  by  capillary  attraction,  draws  to  the  surface 
of  the  ground  the  water  holding  these  salts  (chiefly  sodium  sulphate 


12  INDIA 

mixed  with  sodium  chloride  and  sodium  carbonate)  in  solution,  and 
these  compel  the  water  which  passes  off  in  the  form  of  vapor,  to 
leave  behind  the  salts  it  held,  as  a  white  efflorescence."  Even  grass 
will  not  grow  where  this  substance  is  thus  found  on  the  soil. 

Farther  down,  the  uncontrollable  rivers  wriggle  across  the 
face  of  the  country,  deserting  their  old  beds,  and  searching  out  new 
channels  for  themselves,  it  may  be  at  a  distance  of  many  miles. 
During  these  restless  changes,  they  drown  the  lands  and  villages 
that  lie  in  their  path ;  and  a  Bengal  proprietor  has  sometimes  to  look 
on  helplessly  while  his  estate  is  being  converted  into  the  new  bed 
of  a  broad,  deep  stream.  Even  in  their  quiet  moods  the  rivers 
steadily  steal  land  from  the  old  owners,  and  give  it  capriciously  to 
a  fresh  set.  Each  autumn  the  mighty  currents  undermine,  and  then 
rend  away,  the  fields  and  hamlets  on  their  margins.  Their  activity 
in  land-making  stops  up  their  channels  with  newly  formed  islands, 
and  has  thus  left  high  and  dry  in  ruin  many  a  once  important  city 
along  their  banks.  The  ancient  harbors  at  their  mouths  have  in 
like  manner  been  land-locked  and  shut  off  from  the  sea  by  islands 
and  bars  formed  from  the  silt  or  sand  jointly  deposited  by  the 
rivers  and  the  ocean  currents. 

Throughout  the  river  plains  of  Bengal  two  harvests,  and  in 
some  provinces  three,  are  reaped  each  year.  In  many  districts,  in- 
deed, the  same  fields  have  to  yield  two  crops  within  the  twelve 
months.  Wheat  and  various  grains,  pease,  pulses,  oil-seeds,  and 
green  crops  of  many  sorts  are  reaped  in  spring ;  the  early  rice  crops 
in  September;  the  great  rice  harvest  of  the  year  and  other  grains 
in  November  or  December.  Before  these  last  have  been  gathered 
in,  it  is  time  to  prepare  the  ground  again  for  the  spring  crops; 
and  the  husbandman  knows  no  rest  except  during  the  hot  weeks 
of  May,  when  he  is  anxiously  waiting  for  the  rains.  The  northern 
and  drier  regions,  along  the  higher  courses  of  the  rivers,  roll  up- 
ward from  their  banks  into  fertile  plains,  dotted  with  mud-built 
villages,  and  adorned  with  noble  trees.  Mango  groves  scent  the 
air  with  their  blossom  in  spring,  and  yield  their  abundant  fruit  in 
summer.  The  spreading  banian  with  its  colonnades  of  hanging 
roots,  the  stately  pipal  (Jicus  religiosa),  or  sacred  fig  tree,  with  its 
masses  of  foliage,  the  leafless  wild  cotton-tree  laden  with  its  heavy 
red  flowers,  the  tall  feathery  tamarind,  and  the  quick-growing  babul 
(acacia  arabica),  the  wood  of  which  is  used  for  making  agricultural 
implements  and  the  bark  for  tanning,  rear  their  heads  above  the  crop 


THE     COUNTRY  13 

fields.  As  the  rivers  approach  the  coast,  the  palms  begin  to  take 
possession  of  the  scene. 

The  ordinary  landscape  in  the  Bengal  delta  is  a  flat  stretch 
of  rice  fields,  fringed  round  with  evergreen  masses  of  bamboos, 
cocoanuts,  areca,  and  other  coroneted  palms.  This  densely-peo- 
pled tract  seems  at  first  sight  bare  of  villages,  for  each  hamlet 
is  hidden  amid  its  own  grove  of  plantains  and  wealth-giving  trees. 
The  crops  also  change  as  we  sail  down  the  rivers.  In  the  north, 
the  principal  grains  are  wheat,  barley,  and  millets,  such  as  joar 
and  bajra.  The  two  last  form  the  food  of  the  masses,  rice,  in 
northern  Bengal,  being  only  grown  on  irrigated  lands,  and  con- 
sumed by  the  rich.  Sorghum  vulgare,  or  Indian  millet,  is  used  as 
a  fodder  and  from  its  seed  a  bread  is  made.  In  the  delta,  on  the 
other  hand,  rice  is  the  staple  crop  and  the  universal  diet.  More 
than  a  hundred  varieties  of  it  are  known  to  the  Bengal  peasant. 
Sugar  cane,  oil-seeds,  cotton,  tobacco,  indigo,  and  many  precious 
spices  and  dyes  grow  both  in  the  north  and  the  south.  The  tea- 
plant  is  reared  on  several  hilly  ranges  which  skirt  the  plains,  but 
chiefly  around  Darjiling  or  in  the  Dwars  and  Assam;  pennisetum 
typhoideum  is  used  especially  for  feeding  cattle  and  horses;  the 
opium  poppy,  about  half-way  down  the  Ganges,  near  Benares  and 
Patna;  the  silkworm  mulberry,  still  farther  down  in  Lower  Ben- 
gal; while  the  jute  fiber  is  essentially  a  crop  of  the  delta,  and 
would  exhaust  any  soil  not  fertilized  by  river  floods.  Even  the 
jungles  yield  the  costly  lac  dye  and  tasar  silk  cocoons.  Lac  is  a 
resinous  substance  deposited  on  twigs  by  the  female  lac  insect, 
carteria  lacca,  which  yields  a  scarlet  dye  used  for  woolens  and 
leather.  The  residue,  after  the  extraction  of  the  dye,  is  the  shellac 
of  commerce.  Tasar,  or  tusser-silk,  is  the  product  of  antheroea 
paphia  and  other  wild  silkworms,  and  is  used  only  for  plainly 
woven  fabrics.  To  name  all  the  crops  of  the  river  plains  would 
weary  the  reader.  Nearly  every  vegetable  product  which  feeds  and 
clothes  a  people,  or  enables  it  to  trade  with  foreign  nations, 
abounds  here. 

Having  thus  glanced  at  the  leading  features  of  the  Himalayas 
on  the  north,  and  of  the  great  river  plains  at  their  base,  I  come  now 
to  the  third  division  of  India,  namely,  the  three-sided  tableland 
which  covers  the  southern  half  of  the  peninsula.  This  tract,  known 
in  ancient  times  as  the  Deccan,  or  the  South  (dakshin),  comprises 
the  Central  Provinces,  Berar,  Madras,  and  Bombay,  and  the  native 


14. 


INDIA 


territories  of  Mysore,  of  the  nizam,  Sindhia,  Holkar,  and  other 
feudatory  princes.  It  slopes  upward  from  the  southern  edge  of  the 
Gangetic  plains.  Two  sacred  mountains  stand  as  outposts  on  the 
extreme  east  and  west,  with  confused  ranges  stretching  eight  hun- 
dred miles  between.  At  the  western  extremity,  Mount  Abu,  famous 
for  its  exquisite  Jain  temples,  rises  5650  feet  from  the  Rajputana 
plains,  like  an  island  out  of  the  sea.    The  Aravalli  chain,  the  Yind- 


INDIA 

PHYSICAL      FEATURES 


hya  Mountains,  the  Satpura  and  Kaimur  Ranges,  with  other  high- 
land tracts,  run  across  the  country  eastward  until  they  abut  on  the 
Ganges  Valley,  under  the  name  of  the  Rajmahal  Hills.  On  the 
eastern  edge  of  the  central  mountainous  region,  Mount  Parasnath, 
also  sacred  to  Jain  rites,  towers  4400  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
Gangetic  plains. 

These  various  ranges  form,  as  it  were,  the  northern  wall  and 
buttresses  on  which  rests  the  central  tableland  of  India.     Now 


THE     COUNTRY  15 

pierced  by  road  and  rail,  they  stood  in  former  times  as  a  barrier  of 
mountain  and  jungle  between  northern  and  southern  India,  and 
greatly  increased  the  difficulty  of  welding  the  whole  into  one  em- 
pire. The  three-cornered  tableland  forms  a  vast  mass  of  forests, 
ridges,  and  peaks,  broken  by  cultivated  valleys  and  high-lying 
plains.  Its  eastern  and  western  sides  are  known  as  the  Ghats,  a 
word  applied  to  a  flight  of  steps  up  a  river  bank  or  to  a  mountain 
pass.  The  Eastern  Ghats  run  in  fragmentary  spurs  and  ranges 
down  the  Madras  side  of  India,  sometimes  receding  inland,  and 
leaving  broad  plains  between  them  and  the  coast.  The  Western 
Ghats  form  a  great  sea-wall  for  the  Bombay  presidency,  with  only 
a  narrow  strip  between  them  and  the  shore.  At  places  they  rise  in 
magnificent  precipices  and  headlands  almost  out  of  the  ocean,  and 
truly  look  like  colossal  "  landing-stairs"  from  the  sea.  The  East- 
ern and  Western  Ghats  meet  at  an  angle  near  Cape  Comorin  at  the 
southern  extremity  of  India,  and  so  complete  the  three  sides  of  the 
tableland.  The  inner  plateau  itself  lies  far  below  the  snow  line,  and 
its  ordinary  elevation  seldom  exceeds  2000  to  3000  feet.  Its  best- 
known  hills  are  the  Nilgiris  (Blue  Mountains),  which  contain  the 
summer  capital  of  Madras,  Utakamand,  7000  feet  above  the  sea. 
The  highest  point  is  Dodabetta  peak,  8760  feet,  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  Mysore. 

This  inner  region  of  highlands  sends  its  waters  chiefly  to  the 
eastern  coast.  The  drainage  from  the  northern  or  Vindhyan  edge 
of  the  three-sided  tableland  falls  into  the  Ganges.  The  Narbada 
runs  along  the  southern  base  of  the  Vindhyas,  and  carries  their 
southern  drainage  due  west  into  the  Gulf  of  Cambay.  The  Tapti 
flows  almost  parallel  to  the  Narbada,  a  little  to  the  southward,  and 
bears  to  the  Gulf  of  Cambay  the  waters  from  the  Satpura  Hills. 
From  this  point,  as  we  proceed  southward,  the  Western  Ghats  rise 
into  a  high  unbroken  barrier  between  the  Bombay  coast  and  the 
waters  of  the  inner  tableland.  The  drainage  has  therefore  to  make 
its  way  right  across  India  to  the  eastward,  now  twisting  round  hill 
ranges,  now  rushing  down  the  valleys  between  them,  until  the  rain, 
which  the  Bombay  Seabreeze  dropped  upon  the  Western  Ghats, 
finally  falls  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  In  this  way  the  three  great 
rivers  of  the  Madras  presidency — namely,  the  Godavari,  the  Krishna 
(Kistna),  and  the  Kaveri — rise  in  the  mountains  overhanging  the 
Bombay  coast,  and  traverse  the  whole  breadth  of  the  central  table- 
land before  they  reach  the  ocean  on  the  eastern  shores  of  India. 


16  INDIA 

The  ancient  Sanskrit  poets  speak  of  the  southern  tableland  as 
buried  under  forests;  and  sal,  ebony,  sissu,  teak,  and  other  great 
trees  abound.  Shorea  robusta  flourishes  in  northern  India  and  fur- 
nishes the  most  extensively-used  timber  in  that  region  next  to  teak. 
Dalbergia  sissu  yields  a  compact,  durable  timber  used  for  railroad 
ties  and  in  shipbuilding,  and  for  other  similar  purposes.  The 
Ghats,  in  particular,  are  covered  with  magnificent  vegetation  wher- 
ever a  sapling  can  take  root.  But  tillage  has  now  driven  back  the 
jungle  to  the  hilly  recesses;  and  fields  of  wheat,  and  many  kinds 
of  smaller  grain  or  millets,  tobacco,  cotton,  sugar  cane,  and  pulses, 
spread  over  the  open  country.  The  black  soil  of  southern  India  is 
proverbial  for  its  fertility;  and  the  lowlands  between  the  Ghats  and 
the  sea  rival  even  Lower  Bengal  in  their  fruit-bearing  palms,  rice 
harvests,  and  rich  succession  of  crops.  The  inner  tableland  is,  how- 
ever, very  liable  to  droughts;  and  the  people  have  devised  a  varied 
system  of  irrigation,  in  some  districts  from  wells,  in  others  from 
tanks,  or  from  artificial  lakes  formed  by  damming  up  the  mouths 
of  river  valleys.  They  thus  store  the  rain  brought  during  a  few 
months  by  the  northern  and  southern  monsoons,  and  husband  it  for 
use  throughout  the  whole  year.  The  food  of  the  common  people 
consists  chiefly  of  small  grains  or  millets,  such  as  joar,  bajra,  and 
ragi  (cynosurus  corocanus) .  The  principal  exports  are  cotton  and 
wheat.  It  is,  moreover,  on  the  three-sided  tableland,  and  among  the 
hilly  spurs  which  project  from  it,  that  the  mineral  wealth  of  India 
lies  hidden.  Coal  mining  now  forms  a  great  industry,  both  on  the 
northeastern  edge  of  the  tableland  in  Bengal,  and  in  the  valleys 
of  the  Central  Provinces.  Beds  of  iron  ore  and  limestone  hold  out 
a  prospect  of  metal-smelting  on  a  large  scale  in  the  future;  copper 
and  other  metals  exist  in  small  quantities.  The  diamonds  of  Gol- 
conda  were  long  famous.  Gold  dust  has  from  very  ancient  times 
been  washed  out  of  many  of  the  river  beds;  and  gold  mining  is 
now  being  attempted  on  scientific  principles  in  the  Madras  presi- 
dency and  in  Mysore. 

Burma,  the  fourth  region,  which  the  English  have  incor- 
porated into  the  Indian  empire,  consists  mainly  of  the  valley  of  the 
Irawadi,  and  a  strip  of  coast  along  the  east  side  of  the  Bay  of 
Bengal.  It  stretches  north  and  south,  with  the  sea  on  the  west,  a 
backbone  of  lofty  ranges  running  down  the  middle,  and  the  moun- 
tainous frontier  of  the  Chinese  empire  and  Siam  on  the  east.  The 
central  backbone  of  ranges  in  Burma  is  formed  by  the  Yoma  Moun- 


THE     COUNTRY  17 

tains.  They  are  covered  with  dense  forests,  and  separate  the  Ira- 
wadi  Valley  from  the  strip  of  coast.  The  river  floats  down  an 
abundant  supply  of  teak  from  the  north.  A  thousand  creeks  indent 
the  seaboard ;  and  the  whole  of  the  level  country,  both  on  the  coast 
and  in  the  Irawadi  Valley,  forms  a  vast  rice  field.  Tobacco  of  an 
excellent  quality  supplies  the  cigars  which  all  Burmese  men  and 
women  smoke ;  and  large  quantities  of  tobacco  leaf  are  also  brought 
over  from  the  Madras  presidency.  Until  1886  British  Burma  was 
divided  into  three  provinces — Arakan,  or  the  northern  coast  strip; 
Pegu,  or  the  Irawadi  Valley  in  the  middle ;  and  Tenasserim,  or  the 
narrow  maritime  tract  and  islands  running  down  from  the  south  of 
the  Irawadi  delta.  In  1886  Upper  Burma,  or  the  old  kingdom  of 
Ava,  was  added  to  the  British  empire.  Arakan  and  Pegu  contain 
mineral  oil  springs.  Tenasserim  is  rich  in  tin  mines,  and  in  iron 
ores  equal  to  the  finest  Swedish,  besides  gold  and  copper  in  smaller 
quantities,  and  a  very  pure  limestone.  Rice  and  timber  form  the 
staple  exports  of  Burma  and  rice  is  also  the  universal  food  of  the 
people.  The  most  important  ruby  mines  in  the  world  are  located 
near  Mandalay,  and  produce  the  famous  pigeon-blood  rubies. 

The  continental  portion  of  the  Indian  empire,  which  has  now 
been  described,  is  at  present  administered  in  thirteen  provinces 
under  direct  British  rule  and  in  fifteen  groups  of  native  states  un- 
der British  protection  of  some  form  or  other.  In  addition  to  the 
continental  territories,  there  are  several  outlying  groups  of  islands 
and  other  isolated  bits  of  territory  that  administratively  are  reck- 
oned as  a  portion  of  the  Indian  empire.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however, 
that  the  Island  of  Ceylon,  though  lying  immediately  adjacent  to  the 
shores  of  India,  is  not  a  part  of  the  empire,  but  is  administered  as  a 
crown  colony.  The  Maldive  Islands  situated  southwest  of  Cape 
Comorin  are  a  dependency  of  Ceylon  and  not  of  the  Indian  empire. 

A  fourteenth  province  of  the  Indian  empire  is  composed  of  the 
chain  of  islands  which  extends  from  Cape  Negrais  at  the  south- 
western point  of  Burma  to  Achin  Head,  the  northwestern  point  of 
Sumatra.  This  chain  is  divided  into  two  groups,  the  Andamans 
and  the  Nicobars.  The  Andamans  are  the  more  northerly  group 
and  include  four  large  islands  and  numerous  small  ones  with  an 
area  of  more  than  2500  square  miles.  The  natives  are  an  abo- 
riginal race  of  the  negrito  type,  and  of  the  lowest  and  least  intelli- 
gent sort.  They  were  long  notorious  for  their  cannibal  practices. 
They  are  now  reduced  to  less  than  2000  in  number  and  are  slowly 


18  INDIA 

trying  out.  The  only  important  product  of  the  islands  is  timber. 
Lieutenant  Archibald  Blair  made  a  complete  survey  of  the  islands 
in  1 789- 1 790  and  the  Indian  government  maintained  a  small  colony 
in  the  islands  until  May,  1796,  when  they  were  abandoned.  The 
cruel  treatment  and  murder  of  shipwrecked  mariners  and  other 
visitors  to  the  islands  led  the  British  government  to  take  measures 
for  the  reoccupation  of  the  islands  and  in  1858  they  were  made  a 
penal  settlement  to  which  many  of  the  Indian  mutineers  were  trans- 
ported. The  chief  station  is  Port  Blair  on  South  Andaman  Island, 
which  has  one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the  world.  The  more  south- 
erly group,  known  as  the  Nicobars,  consists  of  the  large  island  of 
Great  Nicobar  and  of  eighteen  smaller  ones.  The  total  area  is  635 
square  miles  and  the  population  of  about  6000  is  made  up  almost 
entirely  of  natives,  who  are  apparently  of  Malay  origin  and  who 
were  formerly  notorious  pirates  and  wreckers.  The  only  valuable 
product  of  the  islands  is  the  cocoanut.  After  attempting  vainly 
for  a  century  to  establish  control  of  the  islands,  Denmark  aban- 
doned them  in  1858.  The  piratical  behavior  of  the  natives  led  the 
English  to  annex  them  in  1-869.  The  British  station  is  Nancowry, 
on  the  Island  of  Camorta,  with  an  excellent  harbor.  In  1872  the 
two  groups  were  united  into  a  province  of  the  Indian  empire  under 
a  chief  commissioner  of  the  Andaman  and  Nicobar  Islands  and 
superintendent  of  Port  Blair.  The  total  area  is  3188  square  miles 
and  the  population  in  1901  was  24,649,  of  whom  half  were  life 
convicts — the  number  being  14,235  in  1908. 

The  Laccadive  Islands,  off  the  Malabar  coast,  are  fourteen  in1 
number.  The  population  was  10,274  in  1901,  and  is  of  Hindu 
race,  but  Mohammedan  faith.  The  more  northerly  islands  belong 
to  the  district  of  South  Kanara  and  the  others  to  the  district  of 
Malabar,  so  that  they  form  a  part  of  the  Madras  presidency. 

Aden  and  its  dependencies,  which  are  administered  as  a  part 
of  the  Bombay  presidency,  are  the  most  important  of  the  outlying 
territories  of  India.  Though  the  Portuguese  had  relations  with 
Aden  from  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  they  never  regu- 
larly occupied  the  place.  The  English  first  visited  it  in  1607  and 
maintained  an  irregular  intercourse  with  it  until  its  annexation  in 
1839.  It  was  the  first  colonial  acquisition  during  the  reign  of 
Queen  Victoria.  Its  area  has  been  extended  by  further  acquisitions 
in  1840,  1868,  and  1882,  making  a  total  of  seventy-five  square 
miles.     To  this  was  added  in  1857  ^ie  I&lanc\  of'Perim,  with  an 


THECOUNTRY  19 

area  of  five  square  miles.  In  1854  the  Kuriah  Muriah  Islands,  five 
in  number,  were  acquired  from  the  sultan  of  Muscat  for  the  land- 
ing of  the  Red  Sea  cable ;  and  they  are  now  leased  for  guano  col- 
lection. By  arrangements  made  with  the  sultan  of  Socotra  in  1876 
and  1886  that  island  was  placed  under  British  protection.  It  has 
an  area  of  1382  square  miles  and  a  population  of  about  12,000, 
mostly  Mohammedans.  Perim  is  located  in  the  Straits  of  Bab-el- 
Mandeb  at  the  entrance  of  the  Red  Sea;  the  peninsula  of  Aden  is 
on  the  Arabian  coast  100  miles  to  the  eastward ;  the  Kuriah  Muriah 
Islands  are  also  off  the  Arabian  coast  900  miles  east  of  the  straits ; 
and  Socotra  lies  in  the  Indian  Ocean  east  of  Cape  Guardafui.  Aden 
has  been  a  free  port  since  1850  and  its  importance  was  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  in  1869.  Its  population 
in  1 90 1  was  43,974.  It  is  the  only  fortified  point  between  Egypt 
and  Bombay  and  has  a  considerable  garrison.  It  is  administered 
by  a  political  resident,  who  is  also  commander  of  the  troops,  and 
who  has  generally  been  appointed  from  the  officers  of  the  Bombay 
army.  He  also  has  cognizance  of  the  agreements  and  treaties  made 
by  the  Indian  government  with  the  local  chiefs  along  the  whole 
southern  coast  of  Arabia. 

British  interests  in  the  Persian  Gulf  also  come  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  government  of  India.  The  pearl  fisheries  are  con- 
trolled by  the  possession  of  the  Island  of  Bahrein  and  the  group  of 
islets  surrounding  it  under  an  arrangement  with  the  local  sheik 
or  chief  whose  position  is  dependent  upon  British  protection.  Be- 
sides Manameh  and  Moharek,  each  with  a  population  of  upward  of 
20,000,  there  are  fifty  villages  in  the  islands,  which  are  located  on 
the  Arabian  coast  of  the  gulf  and  have  an  area  of  about  300  square 
miles.  The  government  of  India  has  engagements  and  treaties  with 
numerous  chiefs  along  the  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  also  with 
the  sultan  of  Muscat.  These  interests  are  supervised  by  a  political 
resident,  who  is  also  consul  general  and  is  resident  at  Bushire,  on 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  gulf.  In  1903,  the  viceroy,  Lord  Curzon, 
made  a  tour  of  the  gulf  with  a  naval  escort  and  confirmed  the  ar- 
rangements with  the  "  trucial  chiefs,"  as  they  are  called.  England 
has  suppressed  piracy  and  the  slave  trade  in  the  gulf,  established 
lighthouses  and  other  aids  to  navigation  and  has  laid  cables  and  in 
other  ways  developed  her  interests  there,  and  opened  the  gulf  to  the 
world's  commerce.  England's  interests  in  the  Persian  Gulf  have 
been  continuous  since  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 


Chapter    II 

THE   PEOPLE 

INDIA  is  divided  into  two  classes  of  territories :  first,  provinces 
under  British  rule;  second,  states  under  native  chiefs.  The 
population  of  the  whole  amounted  in  1901  to  294,000,000, 
or  more  than  double  the  number  estimated  for  the  Roman  empire 
in  the  height  of  its  power;  but  the  English,  even  more  than  the 
Romans,  have  respected  the  rights  of  the  native  chiefs  who  are  will- 
ing to  govern  well.  Such  chiefs  still  rule  on  their  own  account 
more  than  one-third  of  the  area  of  India,  with  over  62,000,000 
of  subjects,  or  more  than  a  fifth  of  the  whole  Indian  people.  The 
British  territories,  therefore,  comprise  about  two-thirds  of  the 
area  of  India,  and  nearly  four-fifths,  or  over  231,000,000  of  its 
inhabitants. 

The  native  princes  govern  their  states  with  the  help  and  under 
the  advice  of  a  British  resident,  whom  the  viceroy  stations  at  their 
courts.  Some  of  them  reign  almost  as  independent  sovereigns; 
others  have  less  power.  They  form  a  great  body  of  feudatory 
rulers,  possessed  of  revenues  and  armies  of  their  own.  The  more 
important  exercise  the  power  of  life  and  death  over  their  subjects ; 
but  the  authority  of  all  is  limited  by  treaties,  by  which  they  acknowl- 
edge their  "  subordinate  dependence  "  to  the  British  government. 
The  British  government,  as  suzerain  in  India,  does  not  allow  its 
feudatories  to  make  war  upon  each  other,  or  to  form  alliances  with 
foreign  states.  It  interferes  when  any  chief  misgoverns  his  people; 
rebukes,  and  if  needful  dethrones,  the  oppressor ;  protects  the  weak, 
and  imposes  peace  upon  all. 

The  British  possessions  are  distributed  into  fourteen  provinces. 
Each  has  its  own  governor  or  head;  but  all  are  controlled  by  the 
supreme  government  of  India,  consisting  of  a  governor-general  in 
council.  The  governor-general  also  bears  the  title  of  viceroy.  He 
holds  his  court  and  government  at  Calcutta  in  the  cold  weather; 
and  during  summer  at  Simla,  in  the  Himalayas,  7000  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.    The  viceroy  of  India  is  appointed  by  the  ruler  of 

20 


THE     PEOPLE 


31 


England;  so  also  are  the  governors  of  Madras  and  Bombay.  Of 
course  the  king  is  not  personally  responsible  for  these  appoint- 
ments, but  the  ministry  which  is  in  office,  so  that  the  appointment 
usually  goes  to  a  member  of  the  party  in  power.  The  heads  of  the 
other  provinces  are  chosen  for  their  merit  from  the  Anglo-Indian 
services,  almost  always  from  the  civil  service,  and  are  nominated 
by  the  viceroy,  subject  in  the  case  of  the  lieutenant  governorships 
to  the  approval  of  the  British  secretary  of  state  for  India.  The 
king  of  England  is  emperor  of  India,  and  is  spoken  of  both  officially 
and  commonly  in  India  as  "  the  king-emperor." 

British  India  is  very  thickly  peopled;  and  some  parts  are  so 
overcrowded  that  the  inhabitants  can  with  difficulty  obtain  land  to 
cultivate.  Each  square  mile  of  the  British  provinces  has  to  feed, 
on  an  average,  213  persons.  Each  square  mile  of  the  native  states 
has  to  feed,  on  an  average,  only  92  persons,  or  less  than  one-half. 
If  we  exclude  the  outlying  provinces  of  Burma  and  Assam,  the  peo- 
ple in  British  India  average  271  to  the  square  mile;  so  that  British 
India  is  almost  three  times  more  thickly  inhabited  than  the  native 
states.  How  thick  this  population  is  may  be  realized  from  the  fact 
that,  in  1901,  France  only  had  186  people  to  the  square  mile,  while 
even  in  crowded  England,  wherever  the  density  approaches  200  to 
the  square  mile  the  population  ceases  to  be  rural,  and  has  to  live 
by  manufactures,  by  mining,  or  by  city  industries.  The  density  of 
Indian  population  is  closely  approximated  by  that  of  New  Jersey, 
which  in  1900  had  250  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile. 

Unlike  England,  India  has  few  large  towns.  Thus,  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales  58  per  cent,  of  the  population,  in  1901,  lived  in 
towns  with  upward  of  20,000  inhabitants,  while  in  British  India 
only  5  per  cent,  of  the  people  lived  in  such  towns.  India,  therefore, 
is  almost  entirely  a  rural  country ;  and  many  of  the  so-called  towns 
are  mere  groups  of  villages,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  cattle  are 
driven  afield,  and  plowing  and  reaping  go  on. 

We  see,  therefore,  in  India,  a  dense  population  of  husband- 
men. Wherever  their  numbers  exceed  1  to  the  acre,  or  640  to  the 
square  mile — excepting  near  towns  or  in  irrigated  tracts — they  find 
it  difficult  to  raise  sufficient  crops  from  the  land  to  supply  them  with 
food.  Yet  many  millions  of  peasants  in  India  are  struggling  to  live 
off  half  an  acre  apiece.  In  such  districts,  if  the  rain  falls  short  by 
a  few  inches,  the  people  suffer  great  distress;  if  the  rain  fails  to  a 
large  extent,  thousands  die  of  famine. 


22  INDIA 

In  some  parts  of  India,  therefore,  there  are  more  husband- 
men than  the  land  can  feed.  In  other  parts,  vast  tracts  of  fertile  soil 
still  await  the  cultivator.  In  England,  the  people  would  move 
freely  from  the  over-populated  districts  to  the  thinly-inhabited  ones. 
But  in  India  the  peasant  clings  to  his  fields;  and  parcels  them  out 
among  his  children,  even  when  his  family  has  grown  too  numerous 
to  live  upon  the  crops.  If  the  Indian  husbandmen  would  learn  to 
migrate  to  tracts  where  spare  land  abounds,  they  would  do  more 
than  the  utmost  efforts  of  government  can  accomplish  to  better 
themselves  and  to  prevent  famines. 

It  is  not  stupidity  that  makes  the  Indian  peasant  cling  to  his 
hereditary  fields.  In  old  days  he  could  move  to  other  districts  or 
provinces  only  with  great  difficulty  and  danger.  Roads  for  carts 
or  wheeled  traffic  were  few  and  far  between ;  and  in  many  parts  of 
India  existed  only  along  the  chief  military  routes.  During  the  cen- 
tury of  confusion  and  native  misrule  which  preceded  the  establish- 
ment of  the  British  power,  traveling  even  by  such  roads  as  did 
exist  was  perilous  owing  to  robbers  and  armed  bands.  Railroads 
and  steamboats,  which  are  the  great  modern  distributors  of  popula- 
tion, were  altogether  unknown  in  India  under  native  rule,  and 
were  introduced  into  India  only  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  By  the  help  of  roads,  railroads,  and  river  steamers,  it 
is  now  possible  for  the  first  time  for  the  Indian  peasants  in  over- 
crowded districts  to  move  to  districts  where  there  is  still  spare  land. 
The  Indian  cultivators  are  slowly  but  surely  learning  this,  and  they 
are  moving  in  large  numbers  to  thinly  peopled  districts  in  eastern 
and  northern  Bengal,  Assam,  and  the  Central  Provinces. 

Throughout  many  of  the  hill  and  frontier  tracts  land  is  so 
plentiful  that  it  yields  no  rent.  The  hillmen  settle  for  a  few  years 
in  some  fertile  spot,  which  they  clear  of  jungle.  They  then  exhaust 
the  soil  by  a  rapid  succession  of  crops,  and  leave  it  to  relapse  into 
forest.  In  such  tracts  no  rent  is  charged ;  but  each  family  of  wan- 
dering husbandmen  pays  a  poll-tax  to  the  chief,  under  whose  pro- 
tection it  dwells.  As  the  inhabitants  increase,  this  nomadic  system 
of  cultivation  gives  place  to  regular  tillage.  Throughout  Burma 
we  see  both  methods  at  work  side  by  side;  while  in  the  thickly- 
peopled  plains  of  India  the  "  wandering  husbandmen  "  have  disap- 
peared, and  each  peasant  family  remains  rooted  to  the  same  plot 
of  ground  during  many  generations. 

Yet  only  a  hundred  years  ago  there  was  more  land  even  in 


THEPEOPLE  23 

Bengal  than  there  were  cultivators  to  till  it.  The  landlords  had  to 
tempt  husbandmen  to  settle  on  their  estates,  by  giving  them  land 
at  low  rents.  Now  the  cultivators  have  grown  so  numerous  that 
in  some  districts  they  will  offer  any  rent  for  a  piece  of  ground.  The 
government  has,  therefore,  had  to  pass  laws  to  prevent  too  great  a 
rise  in  rents.  These  laws  recognize  the  rights  of  the  cultivators 
in  the  fields  which  they  have  long  tilled;  and  the  rents  of  such 
hereditary  husbandmen  cannot  be  raised  above  fair  rates,  fixed  by 
the  courts. 

In  the  old  times  the  scarcity  of  people  made  each  family 
of  cultivators  of  great  value  to  their  landlord.  In  many  parts  of 
India,  when  once  a  peasant  had  settled  in  a  village,  he  was  not  al- 
lowed to  go  away.  In  hill  districts  where  the  nomadic  or  wander- 
ing system  of  husbandry  still  survives,  no  family  is  allowed  by  the 
native  chief  to  quit  his  territory ;  for  each  household  pays  a  poll-tax 
to  the  chief,  and  the  chief  cannot  afford  to  lose  this  money.  In 
some  provinces  the  English  found  the  lower  classes  of  husbandmen 
attached  like  serfs  to  the  soil,  and  their  officers  in  southeastern 
Bengal  almost  raised  a  rebellion  by  their  efforts  to  liberate  the 
rural  slaves.  The  descendants  of  the  old  serfs  still  survive;  but 
they  are  now  freemen. 

European  writers  formerly  divided  the  Indian  population  into 
two  races,  the  Hindus  and  the  Mohammedans;  but  when  we  look 
more  closely  at  the  people,  we  find  that  they  consist  of  four  ele- 
ments. First,  the  non-Aryan  tribes,  called  the  aborigines,  who 
numbered  in  1872  (when  the  first  census  of  India  was  taken)  about 
18,000,000  in  the  British  provinces.  Second,  the  descendants  of 
the  Aryan  or  Sanskrit-speaking  race,  now  called  Brahmans  and 
Rajputs,  who  numbered  in  1872  about  16,000,000.  Third,  the 
great  mixed  population,  generally  known  as  the  Hindus,  which  has 
grown  out  of  the  Aryan  and  non-Aryan  elements  (chiefly  from  the 
latter),  and  numbered  in  1872  about  111,000,000.  Fourth,  the 
Mohammedans,  who  began  to  come  to  India  about  1000  a.  d.,  and 
who  numbered  in  1872  over  41,000,000.  These  made  up  the 
186,000,000  of  the  people  under  British  rule  in  1872.  Since  then 
the  population  of  British  India  has  grown  to  over  231,000,000  in 
1901.  All  the  four  sections  of  the  population  above  mentioned  have 
contributed  to  this  increase,  but  many  of  the  non-Aryan  or  abo- 
riginal tribes  have,  during  the  past  thirty  years,  been  converted 
to  the  Hindu  religion,  and  are  now  reckoned  in  the  census  as  Hin- 


24  INDIA 

dus.     The  same  fourfold  division  applies  to  the  population  of  the 
62,000,000  in  feudatory  India. 

The  great  sources  of  the  Indian  population  were,  therefore, 
the  non-Aryans  and  the  Aryans;  and  we  must  first  try  to  get  a 
clear  view  of  these  ancient  peoples.  Our  earliest  glimpses  of  India 
disclose  two  races  struggling  for  the  soil.  The  one  was  a  fair- 
skinned  people,  which  had  lately  entered  by  the  northwestern  passes 
— a  people  who  called  themselves  Aryan,  literally  of  "  noble  " 
lineage,  speaking  a  stately  language,  worshiping  friendly  and  pow- 
erful gods.  These  Aryans  became  the  Brahmans  and  Rajputs  of 
India.  The  other  race  was  of  a  lower  type,  who  had  long  dwelt  in 
the  land,  and  whom  the  lordly  newcomers  drove  back  into  the 
mountains,  or  reduced  to  servitude  on  the  plains.  The  compara- 
tively pure  descendants  of  these  two  races  are  now  nearly  equal  in 
numbers;  the  intermediate  castes,  sprung  chiefly  from  the  ruder 
stock,  make  up  the  great  mass  of  the  Indian  population.  We  shall 
afterward  see  that  a  third  race,  the  Scythians,  also  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  India,  about  the  beginning  of  the  Chrisitian  era. 
The  Mohammedans  belong  to  a  period  a  thousand  years  later. 


Chapter    III 

THE   NON-ARYANS 

THE  oldest  dwellers  in  India  consisted  of  many  tribes,  who, 
in  the  absence  of  a  race  name  of  their  own,  are  called 
the  non-Aryans  or  aborigines.  They  have  left  no  written 
records ;  indeed,  the  use  of  letters,  or  of  any  simplest  hieroglyphics, 
was  to  them  unknown.  The  sole  works  of  their  hands  which  have 
come  down  to  us  are  rude  stone  circles,  and  the  upright  slabs  and 
mounds  beneath  which,  like  the  primitive  peoples  of  Europe,  they 
buried  their  dead.  From  the  remains  found  in  these  tombs,  we 
only  discover  that,  at  some  far  distant  but  unfixed  period,  they 
knew  how  to  make  round  pots  of  hard  thin  earthenware,  not  inele- 
gant in  shape ;  that  they  fought  with  iron  weapons  and  wore  orna- 
ments of  copper  and  gold.  Earlier  remains  prove,  indeed,  that 
these  ancient  tomb-builders  formed  only  one  link  in  a  chain  of  pri- 
meval races.  Before  them,  India  was  peopled  by  tribes  unac- 
quainted with  metals,  who  hunted  and  warred  with  polished  flint 
axes  and  other  deftly  wrought  implements  of  stone,  similar  to 
those  found  in  northern  Europe.  And  even  these  were  the  suc- 
cessors of  yet  ruder  beings,  who  have  left  their  agate  knives  and 
rough  flint  weapons  in  the  Narbada  Valley.  In  front  of  this  far- 
stretching  background  of  the  metal  and  stone  ages,  we  see  the 
so-called  aborigines  being  beaten  down  by  the  newly-arrived  Aryan 
race. 

The  victorious  Aryans  from  western  or  west-central  Asia 
called  the  earlier  tribes  whom  they  found  in  India  Dasyus,  or  "  ene- 
mies," and  Dasas,  or  "  slaves."  The  Aryans  entered  India  from 
the  colder  north,  and  prided  themselves  on  their  fair  complexion. 
Their  Sanskrit  word  for  "  color  "  (varna)  came  to  mean  "  race  " 
or  "caste."  The  old  Aryan  poets,  who  composed  the  Veda  at 
least  3000  and  perhaps  4000  years  ago,  praised  their  bright  gods, 
who,  "  slaying  the  Dasyus,  protected  the  Aryan  color  " ;  who  "  sub- 
jected the  black-skin  to  the  Aryan  man."     They  tell  us  of  their  own 

U 


26  INDIA 

"  stormy  deities,  who  rush  on  like  furious  bulls  and  scatter  the 
black-skin."  Moreover,  the  Aryan,  with  his  finely-formed  features, 
loathed  the  squat  Mongolian  *  faces  of  the  aborigines.  One  Vedic 
poet  speaks  of  the  Dasyus  or  non-Aryans  as  "  noseless  "  or  flat- 
nosed,  while  another  praises  his  own  "  beautiful-nosed  "  gods.  The 
same  unsightly  feature  was  noticed  with  regard  to  a  non-Aryan 
Asiatic  tribe,  by  the  companions  of  Alexander  the  Great  on  his  Indian 
expedition,  more  than  a  thousand  years  later.  Indeed  the  Vedic 
hymns  abound  in  scornful  epithets  for  the  primitive  races  of  India, 
as  "  disturbers  of  sacrifices,"  "  gross  feeders  on  flesh,"  "  raw-eat- 
ers," "  lawless,"  "  non-sacrificing,"  "  without  gods,"  and  "  with- 
out rites."  As  time  went  on,  and  these  rude  tribes  were  driven 
back  into  the  forest,  they  were  painted  in  still  more  hideous  shapes, 
till  they  became  the  "  monsters  "  and  "  demons  "  of  the  Aryan  poet 
and  priest.  Their  ancient  race-name,  Dasyu,  or  "  enemy,"  thus 
grew  to  signify  goblin  or  devil,  as  the  old  Teutonic  word  for  enemy 
or  "  the  hater "  (modern  German  feind)  has  become  the  Eng- 
lish "  fiend." 

Nevertheless  all  the  non-Aryan  tribes  of  ancient  India  could 
not  have  been  savages.  We  hear  of  wealthy  Dasyus  or  non- 
Aryans  ;  and  the  Vedic  hymns  speak  of  their  "  seven  castles  "  and 
"  ninety  forts."  The  Aryans  afterward  made  alliance  with  non- 
Aryan  tribes;  and  some  of  the  most  powerful  kingdoms  of  India 
were  ruled  by  non-Aryan  kings.  Nor  were  the  non-Aryans  devoid 
of  religious  rites,  or  of  cravings  after  a  future  life.  "  They  adorn," 
says  an  ancient  Sanskrit  book,  "  the  bodies  of  their  dead  with  gifts, 
with  raiment,  with  ornaments;  imagining  that  thereby  they  shall 
attain  the  world  to  come."  These  ornaments  are  the  bits  of  bronze, 
copper,  and  gold  which  we  now  dig  up  from  beneath  their  rude 
stone  monuments.  In  the  Ramayana,  the  Sanskrit  epic  which  nar- 
rates the  advance  of  the  Aryans  into  southern  India,  a  non-Aryan 
chief  describes  his  race  as  "  of  fearful  swiftness,  unyielding  in 
battle,  in  color  like  a  dark-blue  cloud." 

Let  us  now  examine  these  primitive  peoples  as  they  exist  at 
the  present  day.     Thrust  back  by  the  Aryan  invaders  from  the 

1  This  word  Mongolian  is  incorrect,  according  to  the  latest  scholarship. 
Certainly  some  of  the  aborigines  were  in  no  way  Mongolian,  and  in  regard  to 
the  remainder,  the  extent  of  Mongolian  influence  is  very  uncertain.  These  peo- 
ples, most  of  whom  are  now  classed  by  ethnologists  as  Dravidians,  are  of 
undetermined  race  kinship,  the  latest  researches  having  disproved  the  theory 
of  relationship  with  the  natives  of  Australia. 


THE     NON-ARYANS  27 

plains,  they  have  lain  hidden  away  in  the  mountains,  like  the  re- 
mains of  extinct  animals  found  in  hill-caves.  India  thus  forms  a 
great  museum  of  races,  in  which  we  can  study  man  from  his  lowest 
to  his  highest  stages  of  culture.  The  specimens  are  not  fossils  or 
dry  bones,  but  living  tribes,  each  with  its  own  set  of  curious  cus- 
toms and  religious  rites.  ' 

Among  the  rudest  fragments  of  mankind  are  the  isolated  An- 
daman islanders,  or  non-Aryans  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  The  Arab 
and  early  European  voyagers  described  them  as  dog-faced  man- 
eaters.  The  English  officers  sent  to  the  islands  in  1855  to  estab- 
lish a  settlement  found  themselves  in  the  midst  of  naked  cannibals ; 
who  daubed  their  bodies  at  festivals  with  red  earth,  and  mourned 
for  their  dead  friends  by  plastering  themselves  with  dark  mud. 
They  used  a  noise  like  crying  to  express  friendship  or  joy;  bore 
only  names  of  common  gender,  which  they  received  before  birth, 
and  which  therefore  had  to  be  applicable  to  either  sex;  and 
their  sole  conception  of  a  god  was  an  evil  spirit,  who  spread  dis- 
ease. For  five  years  they  repulsed  every  effort  at  intercourse  with 
showers  of  arrows;  but  English  officers  slowly  brought  them  to  a 
better  frame  of  mind,  by  building  sheds  near  the  settlement,  where 
some  of  these  poor  beings  might  find  shelter  and  receive  medicines 
and  food. 

The  Anamalai  Hills,  in  southern  Madras,  form  the  refuge  of 
many  non-Aryan  tribes.  The  long-haired,  wild-looking  Pulliyars 
live  on  jungle  products,  mice,  or  any  small  animals  they  can  catch ; 
and  worship  demons.  Another  clan,  the  Mundavers,  have  no  fixed 
dwellings,  but  wander  over  the  innermost  hills  with  their  cattle. 
They  shelter  themselves  in  caves  or  under  little  leaf  sheds,  and  sel- 
dom remain  in  one  spot  more  than  a  year.  The  thick-lipped,  small- 
bodied  Kaders,  "  lords  of  the  hills,"  are  a  remnant  of  a  higher  race. 
They  live  by  the  chase,  and  wield  some  influence  over  the  ruder 
forest-folk.  These  hills  abound  in  the  great  stone  monuments 
(kistvaens  and  dolmens)  which  the  ancient  non-Aryans  erected 
over  their  dead.  The  Nairs,  the  old  military  non-Aryan  ruling  race 
of  southwestern  India,  still  keep  up  the  ancient  system  of  polyan- 
dry, according  to  which  one  woman  is  the  wife  of  several  husbands, 
and  a  man's  property  descends  not  to  his  own  sons,  but  to  his  sis- 
ter's children.  This  system  also  appears  among  the  non-Aryan 
tribes  of  the  Himalayas  at  the  opposite  extremity  of  India. 

Many  wild  tribes  inhabit  the  mountain  ranges  which  separate 


28  INDIA 

northern  from  southern  India.  The  best-known  of  these  rude  races 
are  perhaps  the  Bhils,  who  dwell  in  the  Vindhya  Hills,  from  Udai- 
pur  state  far  north  of  the  Narbada  River,  southward  to  the  Khan- 
desh  agency  in  the  Bombay  presidency.  They  move  about  with 
their  herds  of  sheep  and  goats  through  the  jungly  highlands,  and 
eke  out  a  spare  livelihood  by  the  chase  and  the  natural  products  of 
the  forest.  In  Udaipur  state  they  are  settled  in  little  hamlets,  each 
homestead  being  built  on  a  separate  hillock,  so  as  to  render  it  im- 
possible for  their  enemies  to  surprise  a  whole  village  at  once.  A 
single  family  may  be  seized,  but  the  shouts  which  it  raises  give  the 
alarm  to  all  the  rest,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  war-cry  spreads  from 
hill  to  hill,  and  swarms  of  half-naked  savages  rush  together  in 
arms  to  beat  off  the  intruder.  Before  the  British  rule  the  Bhils 
were  the  terror  of  the  neighboring  country,  plundering  and  burning 
villages  far  and  wide ;  while  the  native  governments  revenged  them- 
selves from  time  to  time  by  fearful  Bhil  massacres.  In  1818  the 
East  India  Company  obtained  the  neighboring  Bombay  district  of 
Khandesh,  but  its  first  expedition  against  the  Bhils  failed  miser- 
ably; one-half  of  its  number  having  perished  of  fever  in  the  jungles. 
Soon  afterward  Sir  James  Outram  took  these  wild  tribes  in  hand. 
He  made  friends  with  them  by  means  of  feasts  and  tiger-hunts. 
Nine  Bhil  warriors,  who  were  his  constant  companions  in  tracking 
the  beasts  of  chase,  formed  the  beginning  of  a  regular  Bhil  corps 
which  numbered  600  men  in  1827,  and  fought  boldly  for  the  British 
government.  These  loyal  Bhils  put  a  stop  to  plundering  among 
their  wilder  fellow-countrymen,  and  they  have  proved  themselves 
so  trustworthy  that  they  are  now  employed  as  policemen  and 
treasury-guards  throughout  a  large  tract  in  the  Khandesh  political 
agency.2 

In  the  Central  Provinces,  the  non-Aryan  races  form  a  large 
part  of  the  population.  In  certain  localities  they  amount  to  one- 
half  of  the  inhabitants.  Their  most  important  race,  the  Gonds, 
have  made  advances  in  civilization ;  but  the  wilder  tribes  still  cling 
to  the  forest,  and  live  by  the  chase.  Some  of  them  used,  within 
the  present  generation,  flint  points  for  their  arrows.  They  wield 
bows  of  great  strength,  which  they  hold  with  their  feet,  while 
they  draw  the  string  with  both  hands.  They  can  send  an  arrow 
right  through  the  body  of  a  deer.    The  Maris  fly  from  their  grass- 

2  Kipling  describes  the  Bhils  in  "The  Tomb  of  His  Ancestors"  in  "The 
Day's  Work." 


THE     NON-ARYANS  29 

built  huts  on  the  approach  of  a  stranger.  Once  a  year  a  messenger 
comes  to  them  from  the  local  raja  to  take  their  tribute,  which 
consists  chiefly  of  jungle  products.  He  does  not,  however,  enter 
their  hamlets,  but  beats  a  drum  outside,  and  then  hides  himself. 
The  shy  Maris  creep  forth  from  their  huts,  place  what  they 
have  to  give  in  an  appointed  spot,  and  run  back  again  into  their 
retreats. 

Farther  to  the  northeast,  in  the  tributary  states  of  Orissa, 
there  is  a  poor  tribe,  about  10,000  in  number,  of  Juangs  or  Patuas, 
literally  the  "  leaf-wearers."  Until  twenty  years  ago,  their  women 
wore  no  clothes,  but  only  a  few  strings  of  beads  around  the  waist, 
with  a  bunch  of  leaves  before  and  behind.  In  1871  the  English 
officer  called  together  the  clan,  and,  after  a  speech,  handed  out 
strips  of  cotton  for  the  women  to  put  on.  They  then  passed  in 
single  file  before  him  in  their  new  clothes,  and  made  obeisance. 
Finally,  they  gathered  the  bunches  of  leaves,  which  had  formed  their 
sole  clothing,  into  a  great  heap,  and  solemnly  set  fire  to  it. 

Proceeding  to  the  northern  boundary  of  India,  we  find  the 
slopes  and  spurs  of  the  Himalayas  peopled  by  a  great  variety  of 
rude  non-Aryan  tribes.  Some  of  the  Assam  hillmen  have  no  word 
for  expressing  distance  by  miles  or  by  any  land-measure,  but  reckon 
the  length  of  a  journey  by  the  number  of  plugs  of  tobacco  or 
betel-leaf  which  they  chew  upon  the  way.  They  hate  work;  and, 
as  a  rule,  they  are  fierce,  black,  undersized,  and  ill-fed.  In  old 
times  they  earned  a  scanty  livelihood  by  plundering  the  hamlets 
of  the  Assam  Valley.  They  are  now  used  as  a  sort  of  police,  to  keep 
the  peace  of  the  border,  in  return  for  a  yearly  gift  of  cloth,  hoes, 
and  grain.  Their  very  names  bear  witness  to  their  former  wild  life. 
One  tribe,  the  Akas  of  Assam,  is  divided  into  two  clans,  whose 
names  literally  mean  "  the  eaters  of  a  thousand  hearths,"  and  "  the 
thieves  who  lurk  in  the  cotton-field." 

Many  of  the  aboriginal  tribes,  therefore,  remain  in  the  same 
early  stage  of  human  progress  as  that  ascribed  to  them  by  the  Vedic 
poets  more  than  3000  years  ago,  but  others  have  made  great  ad- 
vances, and  form  communities  of  a  well-developed  type.  These 
higher  races,  like  the  ruder  ones,  are  scattered  over  the  length 
and  breadth  of  India,  and  I  must  confine  myself  to  a  very  brief 
account  of  two  of  them — the  Santals  and  the  Kandhs. 

The  Santals  have  their  home  among  the  hills  which  abut  on 
the  valley  of  the  Ganges  in  Lower  Bengal.    They  dwell  in  villages 


30  INDIA 

of  their  own,  apart  from  the  people  of  the  plains,  and,  when  first 
counted  by  British  officers,  numbered  about  a  million.  Although 
still  clinging  to  many  customs  of  a  hunting  forest  tribe,  they  have 
learned  the  use  of  the  plow,  and  have  settled  down  into  skillful 
husbandmen.  Each  hamlet  is  governed  by  its  own  headman,  who  is 
supposed  to  be  a  descendant  of  the  original  founder  of  the  village, 
and  who  is  assisted  by  a  deputy  headman  and  a  watchman.  The 
boys  of  the  hamlet  had  their  separate  officers,  and  were  strictly 
controlled  by  their  own  headman  and  his  deputy  till  they  entered 
the  married  state.  The  Santals  know  not  the  cruel  distinctions 
of  Hindu  caste,  but  trace  their  tribes,  usually  fixed  at  seven,  to  the 
seven  sons  of  the  first  parents.  The  whole  village  feasts,  hunts, 
and  worships  together.  So  strong  is  the  bond  of  race,  that  ex- 
pulsion from  the  tribe  used  to  be  the  only  Santal  punishment.  A 
heinous  criminal  was  cut  off  from  "  fire  and  water  "  in  the  village, 
and  sent  forth  alone  into  the  jungle.  Smaller  offenses  were  for- 
given upon  a  public  reconciliation  with  the  tribe;  to  effect  which 
the  guilty  one  had  to  provide  a  feast,  with  much  rice-beer,  for 
his  clansmen. 

The  Santals  do  not  allow  child-weddings.  They  marry  about 
the  age  of  fifteen  to  seventeen,  when  the  young  people  are  old 
enough  to  choose  for  themselves.  At  the  end  of  the  ceremony  the 
girl's  relatives  pound  burning  charcoal  with  the  household  pestle, 
and  extinguish  it  with  water,  in  token  of  the  breaking  up  of  her 
former  family  ties.  The  Santals  respect  their  women,  and  do 
not  take  a  second  wife  during  the  life  of  the  first,  except  when  the 
first  is  childless.  They  solemnly  burn  their  dead,  and  whenever 
possible  they  used  to  float  three  fragments  of  the  skull  down  the 
Damodar  River,  the  sacred  stream  of  the  race. 

The  Santal  has  no  knowledge  of  bright  and  friendly  gods,  such 
as  the  Vedic  singers  of  the  Aryan  worship..  Still  less  can  he 
imagine  one  omnipotent  and  beneficent  Deity,  who  watches  over 
mankind.  Hunted  and  driven  back  before  the  Hindus  and  Mo- 
hammedans, the  Santal  does  not  understand  how  a  Being  can  be 
more  powerful  than  himself  without  wishing  to  harm  him. 
"  What,"  said  a  Santal  to  an  eloquent  missionary  who  had  been 
discoursing  on  the  omnipotence  of  the  Christian  God;  "what  if 
that  strong  One  should  eat  me  ?  "  He  thinks  that  the  earth  swarms 
with  demons,  whose  ill-will  he  tries  to  avert  by  the  sacrifice  of 
goats,  cocks,  and  chickens.    There  are  the  ghosts  of  his  forefathers, 


THE     NON-ARYANS  81 

river-spirits,  forest-spirits,  well-demons,  mountain-demons,  and  a 
mighty  host  of  unseen  beings,  whom  he  must  keep  in  good  humor. 
These  dwell  chiefly  in  the  ancient  sal  trees  which  shade  his  village. 
In  some  hamlets  the  people  dance  round  every  tree,  so  that  they 
may  not  by  evil  chance  miss  the  one  in  which  the  village-spirits 
happen  to  be  dwelling. 

Until  near  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  Santals  lived 
by  plundering  the  adjacent  plains,  but  under  British  rule  they  settled 
down  into  peaceful  cultivators.  To  prevent  disputes  between  them 
and  the  Hindu  villagers  of  the  lowlands,  British  officers  set  up  in 
1832  a  boundary  of  stone  pillars.  But  the  Hindu  money-lender  soon 
came  among  them ;  and  the  simple  hillmen  plunged  into  debt.  Their 
strong  love  of  kindred  prevented  them  from  running  away,  and  they 
sank  into  serfs  to  the  Hindu  usurers.  The  poor  Santal  gave  over 
his  whole  crop  each  year  to  the  money-lender,  and  was  allowed 
just  enough  food  to  keep  his  family  at  work.  When  he  died,  the 
life-long  burden  descended  to  his  children;  for  the  high  sense 
of  honor  among  the  Santals  compels  a  son  to  take  upon  himself 
his  father's  debts.  In  1848  three  entire  villages  threw  up  their 
clearings,  and  fled  in  despair  to  the  jungle.  In  1855  the  Santals 
started  in  a  body  of  30,000  men,  with  their  bows  and  arrows,  to 
walk  to  Calcutta  and  lay  their  condition  before  the  governor  gen- 
eral. At  first  they  were  orderly ;  but  the  way  was  long ;  they  had 
to  live,  and  the  hungry  ones  began  to  plunder.  Quarrels  broke 
out  between  them  and  the  British  police;  and  within  a  week  they 
were  in  armed  rebellion.  The  rising  was  put  down,  not  without 
mournful  bloodshed.  Their  complaints  were  carefully  inquired 
into,  and  a  simple  system  of  government,  directly  under  the  eye  of 
a  British  officer,  was  granted  to  them.  They  are  now  a  prosper- 
ous people,  but  their  shyness  and  superstition  make  them  dread 
any  new  thing.  A  few  of  them  took  up  arms  to  resist  the  census 
of  1881. 

The  Kandhs,  literally  "  the  mountaineers,"  a  tribe  about  100,- 
000  strong,  inhabit  the  steep  and  forest-covered  ranges  which  rise 
from  the  Orissa  coast.  Their  system  of  government  is  purely 
patriarchal.  The  family  is  strictly  ruled  by  the  father.  The 
grown-up  sons  have  no  property  during  his  life,  but  live  in  his 
house  with  their  wives  and  children,  and  all  share  the  common 
meal  prepared  by  the  grandmother.  The  head  of  the  tribe  is 
usually  the  eldest  son  of  the  patriarchal  family;  but  if  he  be  not 


32  INDIA 

fit  for  the  post  he  is  set  aside,  and  an  uncle  or  a  younger  brother 
is  appointed.  He  enters  on  no  undertaking  without  calling  together 
the  elders  of  the  tribe. 

Up  to  1835,  when  the  English  introduced  milder  laws,  the 
Kandhs  punished  murder  by  blood-revenge.  The  kinsmen  of  the 
dead  man  were  bound  to  kill  the  slayer,  unless  appeased  by  a  pay- 
ment of  grain  or  cattle.  Anyone  who  wounded  another  had  to 
maintain  the  sufferer  until  he  recovered  from  his  hurt.  A  stolen 
article  must  be  returned,  or  its  value  paid;  but  the  Kandh  twice 
convicted  of  theft  was  driven  forth  from  his  tribe — the  greatest 
punishment  known  to  the  race.  Disputes  were  settled  by  duels,  or 
by  deadly  combats  between  armed  bands,  or  by  the  ordeal  of  boil- 
ing oil  or  heated  iron,  or  by  taking  a  solemn  oath  on  an  ant-hill, 
or  on  a  tiger's  claw,  or  on  a  lizard's  skin.  If  a  house-father  died 
leaving  no  sons,  his  land  was  parceled  out  among  the  other  male 
heads  of  the  village ;  for  no  woman  was  allowed  to  hold  land,  nor 
indeed  any  Kandh  who  could  not  with  his  own  arms  defend  it. 

The  Kandh  system  of  tillage  represents  a  stage  half-way 
between  the  migratory  cultivation  of  the  ruder  non-Aryan  tribes 
and  the  settled  agriculture  of  the  Hindus.  The  Kandhs  do  not,  like 
the  ruder  non- Aryans,  merely  burn  down  a  patch  in  the  jungle, 
take  a  few  crops  off  it,  and  then  move  on  to  fresh  clearings.  Nor, 
on  the  other  hand,  do  they  go  on  cultivating  the  same  fields,  like  the 
Hindus,  from  father  to  son.  When  their  lands  show  signs  of 
exhaustion,  they  desert  them;  and  it  was  a  rule  in  some  of  the 
Kandh  settlements  to  change  their  village  sites  once  in  fourteen 
years. 

A  Kandh  wedding  consists  of  forcibly  carrying  off  the  bride  in 
the  middle  of  a  feast.  The  boy's  father  pays  a  price  for  the  girl, 
and  usually  chooses  a  strong  one,  several  years  older  than  his  son. 
In  this  way  Kandh  maidens  are  married  about  fourteen,  Kandh 
boys  about  ten.  The  bride  remains  as  a  servant  in  her  new  father- 
in-law's  house  till  her  boy-husband  grows  old  enough  to  live  with 
her.  She  generally  acquires  a  great  influence  over  him;  and  a 
Kandh  may  not  marry  a  second  wife  during  the  life  of  his  first  one, 
except  with  her  consent. 

The  Kandh  engages  only  in  husbandry  and  war,  and  despises 
all  other  work.  Attached  to  each  village  is  a  row  of  hovels 
inhabited  by  a  lower  race,  who  are  not  allowed  to  hold  land,  to  go 
forth  to  battle,  or  to  join  in  the  village  worship.    These  poor  people 


THE     NON-ARYANS  33 

do  the  dirty  work  of  the  hamlet,  and  supply  families  of  hereditary 
weavers,  blacksmiths,  potters,  herdsmen,  and  distillers.  They  are 
kindly  treated,  and  a  portion  of  each  feast  is  left  for  them,  but  they 
can  never  rise  in  the  social  scale.  No  Kandh  could  engage  in  their 
work  without  degradation,  nor  eat  food  prepared  by  their  hands* 
They  are  supposed  to  be  the  remnants  of  a  ruder  race,  whom  the 
Kandhs  found  in  possession  of  the  hills,  when  they  themselves  were 
pushed  backward  by  the  Aryans  from  the  plains. 

The  Kandhs,  like  the  Santals,  have  many  deities,  race-gods, 
tribe-gods,  family-gods,  and  a  multitude  of  malignant  spirits  and 
demons.  Their  great  divinity  is  the  earth-god,  who  represents  the 
productive  energy  of  nature.  Twice  each  year,  at  sowing-time  and 
at  harvest,  and  in  all  seasons  of  special  calamity,  the  earth-god 
required  a  human  sacrifice.  The  duty  of  kidnaping  victims  from 
the  plains  rested  with  the  lower  race  attached  to  the  Kandh  village. 
Brahmans  and  Kandhs  were  the  only  classes  exempted  from  sacri- 
fice, and  an  ancient  rule  ordained  that  the  offering  must  be  bought 
with  a  price.  The  victim,  on  being  brought  to  the  hamlet,  was 
welcomed  at  every  threshold,  daintily  fed,  and  kindly  treated  till 
the  fatal  day  arrived.  He  was  then  solemnly  sacrificed  to  the 
earth-god,  the  Kandhs  shouting  in  his  dying  ear,  "  We  bought  you 
with  a  price ;  no  sin  rests  with  us ! "  His  flesh  and  blood  were 
portioned  out  among  the  village  lands. 

In  1835  tne  Kandhs  passed  under  British  rule,  and  human 
sacrifices  were  put  down.  Roads  have  been  made  through  their 
hills,  and  fairs  established.  The  English  officers  interfere  as  little 
as  possible  with  their  customs;  and  the  Kandhs  are  now  a  peace- 
able and  well-to-do  race. 

Whence  came  these  primitive  peoples,  whom  the  Aryan 
invaders  found  in  the  land  more  than  3000  years  ago,  and  who  are 
still  scattered  over  India,  the  fragments  of  a  prehistoric  world? 
Written  annals  they  do  not  possess.  Their  traditions  tell  us  little, 
but  from  their  languages  we  find  that  they  belong  to  three  stocks. 
First,  the  Tibeto-Burman  tribes,  who  entered  India  from  the  north- 
east, and  still  cling  to  the  skirts  of  the  Himalayas.  Second,  the 
Kolarians,  who  also  seem  to  have  entered  Bengal  by  the  northeastern 
passes.  They  dwell  chiefly  along  the  northeastern  ranges  of  the 
central  tableland  which  covers  the  southern  half  of  India.  Third, 
the  Dravidians,  who  appear,  on  the  other  hand,  to  have  found  their 
way   into   the   Punjab   by   the   northwestern   passes.     They   now 


34  INDIA 

inhabit  the  southern  part  of  the  three-sided  tableland  as  far  down 
as  Cape  Comorin,  the  southernmost  point  of  India.  This  theory 
concerning  the  origin  of  the  non-Aryans  is  combated  by  Risley  in 
his  chapter  on  caste  in  the  Indian  census  report  for  1901. 

As  a  rule,  the  non-Aryan  races,  when  fairly  treated,  are  truth- 
ful, loyal,  and  kind.  Those  in  the  hills  make  good  soldiers;  while 
even  the  thieving  tribes  of  the  plains  can  be  turned  into  clever 
police.  The  non-Aryan  low-castes  of  Madras  supplied  the  troops 
which  conquered  southern  India  for  the  British ;  and  some  of  them 
fought  at  the  battle  of  Plassey,  which  won  Bengal  for  England. 
The  gallant  Gurkhas,  a  non-Aryan  tribe  of  the  Himalayas,  now 
rank  among  the  bravest  regiments  in  the  Indian  army,  and  have 
covered  themselves  with  honor  in  every  recent  war,  from  Afghan- 
istan to  Burma. 

In  many  countries  of  the  world,  the  ruder  tribes  have  been 
crushed,  or  killed  off  by  superior  races.  This  has  been  the  case,  to 
a  large  extent,  with  the  primitive  peoples  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  with 
the  Indians  of  North  America,  and  with  the  aborigines  of  Australia 
and,  to  some  extent,  in  New  Zealand.  But  the  non-Aryan  tribes  of 
India  are  prospering  instead  of  decreasing  under  British  rule.  Hill- 
fairs  and  roads  through  their  mountains  and  jungles  have  opened 
up  to  them  new  means  of  livelihood;  and  the  census  shows  that 
they  have  a  larger  proportion  of  children  than  the  other  races  of 
India.  As  they  grow  rich,  they  adopt  Hindu  customs,  and  numbers 
of  them  every  year  pass  within  the  pale  of  Hinduism.  Others 
become  converts  to  Christianity,  and  it  seems  likely  that  in  the 
course  of  two  or  three  generations  there  will  be  but  a  small  remnant 
of  the  non-Aryan  races  which  still  cling  to  their  aboriginal  customs 
and  rites.  The  census  since  1881  has  included  many  of  them 
among  the  low  caste  Hindus,  and  returned  a  much  smaller  number 
of  pure  aborigines  than  the  figures  given  in  the  second  chapter  for 
the  aboriginal  population  from  the  census  of  1872. 

This  arises  partly  from  the  fact  that  the  aboriginal  races  are 
merging  into  the  Hindu  community:  partly  because  the  system  of 
classification  adopted  in  1872  exhibited  the  aborigines  more  fully 
according  to  their  race  than  the  later  census  enumerations.  It 
should  be  noted  that  the  census  of  1872  was  not  a  synchronous 
general  census,  but  rather  a  compilation  of  enumerations  made  in 
different  provinces  in  different  years  and  of  estimates  in  those  dis- 
tricts in  which  for  any  reason  a  count  could  not  be  made.     The 


THE     NON-ARYANS  35 

census  of  1881  strictly  speaking  was  the  first  census  of  India.  The 
censuses  beginning  with  1881  have  omitted  an  enumeration  based 
upon  race  origin,  so  that  one  is  dependent  upon  the  returns  of 
religious  beliefs  for  inferences  concerning  the  race  origins.  The 
heading  Animistic  may  be  taken  as  including  scarcely  any  except 
aborigines,  but  it  by  no  means  includes  them  all,  for  many,  especially 
in  recent  years  have  become  converts  to  one  of  the  other  faiths, 
especially  Hinduism  or  Christianity. 


Chapter   IV 

THE   ARYANS   IN   INDIA 

ATa  very  early  period  we  catch  sight  of  a  nobler  race  from  the 
/  \  northwest,  forcing  its  way  in  among  the  primitive  peoples 
JL  Jk»of  India.  This  race  belonged  to  the  splendid  Aryan  or 
Indo-European  stock,  from  which  the  Brahman,  the  Rajput,  and 
the  Englishman  alike  descend.  Its  earliest  home  seems  to  have 
been  in  western  Asia.  From  that  common  camping-ground  certain 
branches  of  the  race  started  for  the  east,  others  for  the  farther  west. 
One  of  the  western  offshoots  built  Athens  and  Sparta,  and  became 
the  Greek  nation ;  another  went  on  to  Italy,  and  reared  the  city  on 
the  seven  hills,  which  grew  into  imperial  Rome.  A  distant  colony 
of  the  same  race  excavated  the  silver  ores  of  prehistoric  Spain ;  and 
when  we  first  catch  a  sight  of  ancient  England,  we  see  an  Aryan 
settlement  fishing  in  wattle  canoes,  and  working  the  tin  mines  of 
Cornwall.  Meanwhile  other  branches  of  the  Aryan  stock  had  gone 
forth  from  the  primitive  Asiatic  home  to  the  east.  Powerful  bands 
found  their  way  through  the  passes  of  the  Himalayas  into  the 
Punjab,  and  spread  themselves,  chiefly  as  Brahmans  and  Rajputs, 
over  India.  Recent  researches  concerning  the  Indo-Europeans  and 
concerning  the  early  history  of  India  tend  to  modify  certain  of 
these  conclusions,  but  there  is  as  yet  no  reason  to  consider  this 
opinion  as  less  weighty  than  any  other.  In  regard  to  the  early  home 
of  the  Indo-Europeans  there  is  slight  chance  of  positive  proof,  but 
at  present  the  weight  of  evidence  seems  to  favor  some  region  just 
south  of  the  Baltic  Sea. 

The  Aryan  offshoots,  alike  to  the  east  and  to  the  west,  asserted 
their  superiority  over  the  earlier  peoples  whom  they  found  in  pos- 
session of  the  soil.  The  history  of  ancient  Europe  is  the  story  of 
the  Aryan  settlements  around  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean ;  and 
that  wide  term,  modern  civilization,  merely  means  the  civilization 
of  the  western  branches  of  the  same  race.  The  history  of  India 
consists  in  like  manner  of  the  history  of  the  eastern  offshoots  of  the 
Aryan  stock  who  settled  in  that  land. 

36 


THEARYANS  37 

We  know  little  regarding  these  noble  Aryan  tribes  in  their 
early  camping  ground  in  western  Asia.  From  words  preserved  in 
the  languages  of  their  long-separated  descendants  in  Europe  and 
India,  scholars  infer  that  they  roamed  over  the  grassy  steppes  with 
their  cattle,  making  long  halts  to  raise  crops  of  grain.  They  had 
tamed  most  of  the  domestic  animals;  were  acquainted  with  iron; 
understood  the  arts  of  weaving  and  sewing ;  wore  clothes ;  and  ate 
cooked  food.  They  lived  the  hardy  life  of  the  comparatively 
temperate  zone;  and  the  feeling  of  cold  seems  to  be  one  of  the 
earliest  common  remembrances  of  the  eastern  and  the  western 
branches  of  the  race. 

The  forefathers  of  the  Greek  and  the  Roman,  of  the  English 
and  the  Hindu,  dwelt  together  in  western  Asia,  spoke  the  same 
tongue,  worshiped  the  same  gods.  The  languages  of  Europe  and 
India,  although  at  first  sight  they  seem  wide  apart,  are  merely 
different  growths  from  the  original  Aryan  speech.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  of  the  common  words  of  family  life.  The  names  for 
father,  mother,  brother,  sister,  and  widow  are  the  same  in  most  of 
the  Aryan  languages,  whether  spoken  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges, 
of  the  Tiber,  or  of  the  Thames.  Thus  the  word  daughter,  which 
occurs  in  nearly  all  of  them,  seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
Aryan  root  dhugh,  which  in  Sanskrit  has  the  form  of  duh,  to  milk ; 
and  perhaps  preserves  the  memory  of  the  time  when  the  daughter 
was  the  little  milkmaid  in  the  primitive  Aryan  household. 

The  ancient  religions  of  Europe  and  India  had  a  common 
origin.  They  were  to  some  extent  made  up  of  the  sacred  stories  or 
myths,  which  our  joint-ancestors  had  learned  while  dwelling  to- 
gether in  Asia.  Several  of  the  Vedic  gods  were  also  the  gods  of 
Greece  and  Rome ;  and  to  this  day  the  Divinity  is  adored  by  names 
derived  from  the  same  old  Aryan  word  deva,  the  shining  one,  by 
Brahmans  in  Calcutta,  by  the  Protestant  clergy  of  England,  and  by 
Catholic  priests  in  Peru. 

The  Vedic  hymns  exhibit  the  Indian  branch  of  the  Aryans  on 
their  march  to  the  southeast,  and  in  their  new  homes.  The  earliest 
songs  disclose  the  race  still  to  the  north  of  the  Khaibar  Pass,  in 
Kabul;  the  later  ones  bring  them  as  far  as  the  Ganges.  Their 
victorious  advance  eastward  through  the  intermediate  tract  can  be 
traced  in  the  Vedic  writings  almost  step  by  step.  The  steady 
supply  of  water  among  the  five  rivers  of  the  Punjab  led  the  Aryans 
to  settle  down  from  their  old  state  of  wandering  half-pastoral  tribes 


38  INDIA 

into  regular  communities  of  husbandmen.  The  Vedic  poets  praised 
the  rivers  which  enabled  them  to  make  this  great  change — perhaps 
the  most  important  step  in  the  progress  of  a  race.  "  May  the 
Indus,"  they  sang,  "the  far-famed  giver  of  wealth,  hear  us;  (fer- 
tilizing our)  broad  fields  with  water."  The  Himalayas,  through 
whose  southwestern  passes  they  had  reached  India,  and  at  whose 
southern  base  they  long  dwelt,  made  a  lasting  impression  on  their 
memory.  The  Vedic  singer  praised  "  Him  whose  greatness  the 
snowy  ranges,  and  the  sea,  and  the  aerial  river  declare."  The 
Aryan  race  in  India  never  forgot  its  northern  home.  There  dwelt 
its  gods  and  holy  singers;  and  there  eloquence  descended  from 
heaven  among  men;  while  high  amid  the  Himalaya  Mountains 
lay  the  paradise  of  deities  and  heroes,  where  the  kind  and  the  brave 
forever  repose. 

The  Rig- Veda  forms  the  great  literary  memorial  of  the  early 
Aryan  settlements  in  the  Punjab.  The  age  of  this  venerable 
hymnal  is  unknown.  Orthodox  Hindus  believe,  without  evidence, 
that  it  existed  "  from  before  all  time,"  or  at  least  from  3001  years 
b.  c.  European  scholars  have  inferred  from  astronomical  data 
that  its  composition  was  going  on  about  1400  b.  c,  but  the  evidence 
might  have  been  calculated  backward,  and  inserted  later  in  the 
Veda.  In  1893  two  scholars,  Tilak  and  Jacobi,  published  the 
results  of  independent  research  based  upon  astronomical  data  and 
assigned  the  Rig-Veda  to  the  period  between  4500  b.  c.  and  2500 
b.  c.  We  only  know  that  the  Vedic  religion  had  been  at  work  long 
before  the  rise  of  Buddhism  in  the  sixth  century  b.  c.  The  Rig- 
Veda  is  a  very  old  collection  of  10 17  short  poems,  chiefly  addressed 
to  the  gods,  and  containing  10,580  verses.  Its  hymns  show  us 
the  Aryans  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus,  divided  into  various  tribes, 
sometimes  at  war  with  each  other,  sometimes  united  against  the 
"  black-skinned  "  aborigines.  Caste,  in  its  later  sense,  is  unknown. 
Each  father  of  a  family  is  the  priest  of  his  own  household.  The 
chieftain  acts  as  father  and  priest  to  the  tribe;  but  at  the  greater 
festivals  he  chooses  someone  specially  learned  in  holy  offerings 
to  conduct  the  sacrifice  in  the  name  of  the  people.  The  king  himself 
seems  to  have  been  elected ;  and  his  title  of  vis-pati,  literally  "  lord 
of  the  settlers,"  survives  in  the  old  Persian  vis-paiti,  and  as  the 
Lithuanian  wiez-patis  in  east-central  Europe  at  this  day.  Women 
enjoyed  a  high  position;  and  some  of  the  most  beautiful  hymns 
were  composed  by  ladies  and  queens.     Marriage  was  held  sacred. 


THE     ARYANS 


39 


Husband  and  wife  were  both  "  rulers  of  the  house  "  (dampati)  ;  and 
drew  near  to  the  gods  together  in  prayer.  The  burning  of  widows 
on  their  husbands'  funeral  pile  was  unknown ;  and  the  verses  in  the 
Veda  which  the  Brahmans  afterward  distorted  into  a  sanction  for 
the  practice,  have  the  very  opposite  meaning.  "  Rise,  woman," 
says  the  Vedic  text  to  the  mourner;  "come  to  the  world  of  life. 
Come  to  us.  Thou  hast  fulfilled  thy  duties  as  a  wife  to  thv  hus- 
band." 

The  Aryan  tribes  in  the  Veda  have  blacksmiths,  coppersmiths, 
and  goldsmiths  among  them,  besides  carpenters,  barbers,  and  other 
artisans.  They  fight  from  chariots,  and  freely  use  the  horse, 
although  not  yet  the  elephant,  in  war.  They  have  settled  down  as 
husbandmen,  till  their  fields  with  the  plow,  and  live  in  villages 
or  towns,  but  they  also  cling  to  their  old  wandering  life,  with  their 
herds  and  "cattle-pens."  Cattle,  indeed,  still  form  their  chief 
wealth — the  coin  in  which  payment  of  fines  is  made — reminding 
us  of  the  Latin  word  for  money,  pecunia,  from  pecus,  a  herd. 
One  of  the  Vedic  words  for  war  literally  means  "a  desire  for 
cows." 

Unlike  the  modern  Hindus,  the  Aryans  of  the  Veda  ate  beef ; 
used  a  fermented  liquor  or  beer,  made  from  the  soma  plant ;  and  of- 
fered the  same  strong  meat  and  drink  to  their  gods.  The  identifi- 
cation of  this  plant  is  not  certain,  but  it  seems  to  be  sarcostemma 
brevistigma,  sometimes  called  moon-plant.  Thus  the  stout  Aryans 
spread  eastward  through  northern  India,  pushed  on  from  behind 
by  later  arrivals  of  their  own  stock,  and  driving  before  them,  or 
reducing  to  bondage,  the  earlier  "  black-skinned "  races.  They 
marched  in  whole  communities  from  one  river  valley  to  another; 
each  house-father  a  warrior,  husbandman,  and  priest;  with  his 
wife,  and  his  little  ones,  and  his  cattle. 

These  free-hearted  tribes  had  a  great  trust  in  themselves  and 
their  gods.  Like  other  conquering  races,  they  believed  that  both 
themselves  and  their  deities  were  altogether  superior  to  the  people 
of  the  land,  and  to  their  poor,  rude  objects  of  worship.  Indeed, 
this  noble  self-confidence  is  a  great  aid  to  the  success  of  a  nation. 
Their  divinities — devas,  literally  "  the  shining  ones,"  from  the  San- 
skrit root  div,  "  to  shine  " — were  the  great  powers  of  nature.  They 
adored  the  father-heaven, — Dyaush-pitar  in  Sanskrit,  the  Dies- 
piter  or  Jupiter  of  Rome,  the  Zeus  of  Greece ;  and  the  encompass- 
ing  sky — Varuna    in    Sanskrit,    Uranus    in    Latin,    Quranos    in 


40  INDIA 

Greek. 1  Indra,  or  the  aqueous  vapor  that  brings  the  precious  rain 
on  which  plenty  or  famine  still  depends  each  autumn,  received  the 
largest  number  of  hymns.  By  degrees,  as  the  settlers  realized 
more  and  more  keenly  the  importance  of  the  periodical  rains  to 
their  new  life  as  husbandmen,  he  became  the  chief  of  the  Vedic 
gods.  "  The  gods  do  not  reach  unto  thee,  O  Indra,  nor  men ;  thou 
overcomest  all  creatures  in  strength."  Indra  is  also  the  god  of  the 
thunder  storm  and  therefore  the  god  of  war.  Agni,  the  god  of  fire 
(Latin  ignis),  ranks  perhaps  next  to  Indra  in  the  number  of  hymns 
addressed  to  him.  He  is  "  the  youngest  of  the  gods,"  "  the  lord 
and  giver  of  wealth."  The  Maruts  are  the  storm  gods,  "  who  make 
the  rock  to  tremble,  who  tear  in  pieces  the  forest."  Ushas,  "  the 
high-born  dawn  "  (Greek  Eos),  "  shines  upon  us  like  a  young  wife, 
rousing  every  living  being  to  go  forth  to  his  work."  The  Asvins, 
the  "  horsemen  "  or  fleet  outriders  of  the  dawn,  are  the  first  rays 
of  sunrise,  "lords  of  luster."  The  solar  orb  himself  (Surya),  the 
wind  (Vayu),  the  sunshine  or  friendly  day  (Mitra),  the  intoxicat- 
ing fermented  juice  of  the  sacrificial  plant  (Soma),  and  many  other 
deities  are  invoked  in  the  Veda — in  all,  about  thirty-three  gods, 
"  who  are  eleven  in  heaven,  eleven  on  earth,  and  eleven  dwelling 
in  glory  in  mid-air." 

The  Aryan  settler  lived  on  excellent  terms  with  his  bright 
gods.  He  asked  for  protection,  with  an  assured  conviction  that  it 
would  be  granted.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  deeply  stirred  by  the 
glory  and  mystery  of  the  earth  and  the  heavens.  Indeed,  the 
majesty  of  nature  so  filled  his  mind  that  when  he  praises  any  one 
of  his  shining  gods,  he  can  think  of  none  other  for  the  time  being, 
and  adores  him  as  the  supreme  ruler.  Verses  may  be  quoted  de- 
claring each  of  the  greater  deities  to  be  the  one  supreme :  "  Neither 
gods  nor  men  reach  unto  thee,  O  Indra."  Another  hymn  speaks 
of  Soma  as  "  king  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  conqueror  of  all."  To 
Varuna  also  it  is  said,  "  Thou  art  lord  of  all,  of  heaven  and  earth ; 
thou  art  king  of  all  those  who  are  gods,  and  of  all  those  who  are 
men."  The  more  spiritual  of  the  Vedic  singers,  therefore,  may  be 
said  to  have  worshiped  one  god,  though  not  one  alone. 

A  few  stanzas  from  one  of  these  Vedic  hymns  will  suffice  to 
show  their  character.  "  In  the  beginning  there  arose  the  golden 
child.    He  was  the  one  born  lord  of  all  that  is.    He  established  the 

1  The  identification  of  Varuna  with  Uranus  is  possible,  but  as  yet  has  not 
been  proven. 


THEARYANS  41 

earth  and  this  sky.  Who  is  the  God  to  whom  we  shall  offer  our 
sacrifice  ? 

"  He  who  gives  life,  he  who  gives  strength ;  whose  command 
all  the  bright  gods  revere;  whose  shadow  is  immortality,  whose 
shadow  is  death.  Who  is  the  God  to  whom  we  shall  offer  our 
sacrifice  ? 

"  He  who,  through  his  power,  is  the  one  king  of  the  breathing 
and  awakening  world.  He  who  governs  all,  man  and  beast.  Who 
is  the  God  to  whom  we  shall  offer  our  sacrifice? 

"  He  through  whom  the  sky  is  bright  and  the  earth  firm ;  he 
through  whom  the  heaven  was  established,  nay,  the  highest  heaven ; 
he  who  measured  out  the  light  and  the  air.  Who  is  the  God  to 
whom  we  shall  offer  our  sacrifice  ? 

"  He  who  by  his  might  looked  even  over  the  water-clouds ;  he 
who  alone  is  God  above  all  gods.  Who  is  the  God  to  whom  we 
shall  offer  our  sacrifice  ?  "  2 

While  the  aboriginal  races  buried  their  dead  in  the  earth  or 
under  rude  stone  monuments,  the  Aryan — alike  in  India,  in  Greece, 
and  in  Italy — made  use  of  the  funeral-pile.  Several  exquisite  San- 
skrit hymns  bid  farewell  to  the  dead : — "  Depart  thou,  depart  thou 
by  the  ancient  paths  to  the  place  whither  our  fathers  have  departed. 
Meet  with  the  ancient  ones ;  meet  with  the  lord  of  death.  Throw- 
ing off  thine  imperfections,  go  to  thy  home.  Become  united  with 
a  body;  clothe  thyself  in  a  shining  form."  "Let  him  depart  to 
those  for  whom  flow  the  rivers  of  nectar.  Let  him  depart  to  those 
who,  through  meditation,  have  obtained  the  victory ;  who,  by  fixing 
their  thoughts  on  the  unseen,  have  gone  to  heaven.  Let  him  depart 
to  the  mighty  in  battle,  to  the  heroes  who  have  laid  down  their  lives 
for  others,  to  those  who  have  bestowed  their  goods  on  the  poor." 
The  doctrine  of  transmigration  was  at  first  unknown.  The  circle 
round  the  funeral-pile  sang  with  a  firm  assurance  that  their  friend 
went  direct  to  a  state  of  blessedness  and  reunion  with  the  loved  ones 
who  had  gone  before.  "  Do  thou  conduct  us  to  heaven,"  says  a 
hymn  of  the  later  Atharva-Veda ;  "  let  us  be  with  our  wives  and 
children."  "  In  heaven,  where  our  friends  dwell  in  bliss — having 
left  behind  the  infirmities  of  the  body,  free  from  lameness,  free 
from  crookedness  of  limb— there  let  us  behold  our  parents  and  our 

2  This  hymn,  complete  in  ten  stanzas,  will  be  found  in  F.  Max  Muller: 
"  Vedic,"  I,  i  (vol.  XXXII.  of  "  Sacred  Books  of  the  East"),  where  it  is  ascribed 
"To  the  Unknown  God."  Its  citation  is  "  Rig- Veda,"  Mandala  10,  hymn  tax. 
(Ashtaka  viii.  Adhyaya  7.    Varga  3-4.). 


42  INDIA 

children."  "  May  the  water-shedding  spirits  bear  thee  upward, 
cooling  thee  with  their  swift  motion  through  the  air,  and  sprink- 
ling thee  with  dew."  "  Bear  him,  carry  him ;  let  him,  with  all  his 
faculties  complete,  go  to  the  world  of  the  righteous.  Crossing  the 
dark  valley  which  spreadeth  boundless  around  him,  let  the  unborn 
soul  ascend  to  heaven.  Wash  the  feet  of  him  who  is  stained  with 
sin ;  let  him  go  upward  with  cleansed  feet.  Crossing  the  gloom, 
gazing  with  wonder  in  many  directions,  let  the  unborn  soul  go  up 
to  heaven." 

By  degrees  the  old  collection  of  hymns,  or  the  Rig- Veda,  no 
longer  sufficed.  Three  other  collections  or  service-books  were 
therefore  added,  making  the  four  Vedas.  The  word  Veda  is  from 
the  same  root  as  the  Latin  vid-ere,  to  see :  the  early  Greek  feid-enai, 
infinitive  of  oida,  I  know :  and  the  English  wisdom,  or  I  wit.  The 
Brahmans  taught  that  the  Veda  was  divinely  inspired,  and  that  it 
was  literally  "  the  wisdom  of  God."  There  was,  first,  the  Rig- 
Veda,  or  the  hymns  in  their  simplest  form.  Second,  the  Sama- 
Veda,  made  up  of  hymns  of  the  Rig- Veda  to  be  used  at  the  Soma 
sacrifice.  Third,  the  Yajur-Veda,  consisting  not  only  of  Rig-Vedic 
hymns,  but  also  of  prose  sentences,  to  be  used  at  the  great  sacrifices ; 
and  divided  into  two  editions,  the  Black  and  White  Yajur.  The 
fourth,  or  Atharva-Veda,  was  compiled  from  the  least  ancient 
hymns  at  the  end  of  the  Rig- Veda,  very  old  religious  spells,  and 
later  sources.  Some  of  its  spells  have  a  similarity  to  the  ancient 
German  and  Lithuanian  charms,  and  appear  to  have  come  down 
from  the  most  primitive  times,  before  the  Indian  and  European 
branches  of  the  Aryan  race  struck  out  from  their  common  home. 

To  each  erf  the  four  Vedas  were  attached  prose  works,  called 
Brahmanas,  in  order  to  explain  the  sacrifices  and  the  duties  of  the 
priests.  Like  the  four  Vedas,  the  Brahmanas  were  held  to  be  the 
very  word  of  God.  The  Vedas  and  the  Brahmanas  form  the  re- 
vealed scriptures  of  the  Hindus — the  sruti,  literally  "  things  heard 
from  God."  The  Vedas  supplied  their  divinely-inspired  psalms,  and 
the  Brahmanas  their  divinely-inspired  theology  or  body  of  doctrine. 
To  them  were  afterward  added  the  Sutras,  literally  "strings  of 
pithy  sentences  "  regarding  laws  and  ceremonies.  Still  later  the 
Upanishads  were  composed,  treating  of  God  and  the  soul;  the 
Aranyakas,  or  "  tracts  for  the  forest  recluse  " ;  and,  after  a  very 
long  interval,  the  Puranas,  or  "  traditions  from  of  old."  All  these 
ranked,  however,   not  as  divinely-inspired  knowledge,   or  things 


THE    ARYANS  43 

"heard  from  God"  (sruti),  like  the  Vedas  and  Brahma- 
nas,  but  only  as  sacred  traditions — smitri,  literally  "the  things 
remembered." 

Meanwhile  the  four  castes  had  been  formed.  In  the  old  Aryan 
colonies  among  the  five  rivers  of  the  Punjab,  each  house-father  was 
a  husbandman,  warrior,  and  priest.  But  by  degrees  certain  gifted 
families,  who  composed  the  Vedic  hymns  or  learned  them  off  by 
heart,  were  always  chosen  by  the  king  to  perform  the  great  sacri- 
fices. In  this  way  probably  the  priestly  caste  sprang  up.  As  the 
Aryans  conquered  more  territory,  fortunate  soldiers  received  a 
larger  share  of  the  lands  than  others,  and  cultivated  it  not  with 
their  own  hands,  but  by  means  of  the  vanquished  non-Aryan  tribes. 
In  this  way  the  four  castes  arose.  First,  the  priests  or  Brahmans. 
Second,  the  warriors  or  fighting  companions  of  the  king,  called 
Rajputs  or  Kshattriyas,  literally  "  of  the  royal  stock."  Third,  the 
Aryan  agricultural  settlers,  who  kept  the  old  name  of  Vaisyas, 
from  the  root  vis,  which  in  the  primitive  Vedic  period  had  included 
the  whole  Aryan  people.  Fourth,  the  Sudras,  or  conquered  non- 
Aryan  tribes,  who  became  serfs.  The  first  three  castes  were  of 
Aryan  descent,  and  were  honored  by  the  name  of  the  twice-born 
castes.  They  could  all  be  present  at  the  sacrifices,  and  they  wor- 
shiped the  same  bright  gods.  The  Sudras  were  "  the  slave-bands 
of  black  descent "  of  the  Veda.  They  were  distinguished  from 
their  "  twice-born  "  Aryan  conquerors  as  being  only  "  once-born," 
and  by  many  contemptuous  epithets.  They  were  not  allowed  to  be 
present  at  the  great  national  sacrifices,  or  at  the  feasts  which  fol- 
lowed them.  They  could  never  rise  out  of  their  servile  condition; 
and  to  them  was  assigned  the  severest  toil  in  the  fields,  and  all  the 
hard  and  dirty  work  of  the  village  community. 

The  Brahmans  or  priests  claimed  the  highest  rank,  but  they 
seem  to  have  had  a  long  struggle  with  the  Kshattriya  or  warrior 
caste,  before  they  won  their  proud  position  at  the  head  of  the  Indian 
people.  They  afterward  secured  themselves  in  that  position,  by 
teaching  that  it  had  been  given  to  them  by  God.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  world,  they  said,  the  Brahman  proceeded  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Creator,  the  Kshattriya  or  Rajput  from  his  arms,  the  Vaisya 
from  his  thighs  or  belly,  and  the  Sudra  from  his  feet.  This  legend 
is  true  so  far,  that  the  Brahmans  were  really  the  brain-power  of 
the  Indian  people,  the  Kshattriyas  its  armed  hands,  the  Vaisyas  the 
food-growers,  and  the  Sudras  the  down-trodden  serfs.     When  the 


44  INDIA 

Brahmans  had  established  their  power,  they  made  a  wise  use'  of  it. 
From  the  ancient  Vedic  times  they  recognized  that  if  they  were  to 
exercise  spiritual  supremacy,  they  must  renounce  earthly  pomp.  In 
arrogating  the  priestly  function,  they  gave  up  all  claim  to  the  royal 
office.  They  were  divinely  appointed  to  be  the  guides  of  nations 
and  the  counselors  of  kings,  but  they  could  not  be  kings  themselves. 
As  the  duty  of  the  Sudra  was  to  serve,  of  the  Vaisya  to  till  the 
ground  and  follow  middle-class  trades  or  crafts,  so  the  business 
of  the  Kshattriya  was  to  fight  the  public  enemy,  and  of  the  Brah- 
man to  propitiate  the  national  gods. 

Each  day  brought  to  the  Brahmans  its  routine  of  ceremonies, 
studies,  and  duties.  Their  whole  life  was  mapped  out  into  four 
clearly-defined  stages  of  discipline.  For  their  existence,  in  its  full 
religious  significance,  commenced  not  at  birth,  but  on  being  in- 
vested at  the  close  of  childhood  with  the  sacred  thread  of  the  twice- 
born.  Their  youth  and  early  manhood  were  to  be  entirely  spent  in 
learning  the  Veda  by  heart  from  an  older  Brahman,  tending  the 
sacred  fire,  and  serving  their  preceptor.  Having  completed  his  long 
studies,  the  young  Brahman  entered  on  the  second  stage  of  his  life, 
as  a  householder.  He  married,  and  commenced  a  course  of  family 
duties.  When  he  had  reared  a  family,  and  gained  a  practical 
knowledge  of  the  world,  he  retired  into  the  forest  as  a  recluse,  for 
the  third  period  of  his  life ;  feeding  on  roots  or  fruits,  practicing  his 
religious  duties  with  increased  devotion.  The  fourth  stage  was 
that  of  the  ascetic  or  religious  mendicant,  wholly  withdrawn  from 
earthly  affairs,  and  striving  to  attain  a  condition  of  mind  which, 
heedless  of  the  joys,  or  pains,  or  wants  of  the  body,  is  intent  only 
on  its  final  absorption  into  the  deity.  The  Brahman,  in  this  fourth 
stage  of  his  life,  ate  nothing  but  what  was  given  to  him  unasked, 
and  abode  not  more  than  one  day  in  any  village,  lest  the  vanities  of 
the  world  should  find  entrance  into  his  heart.  This  was  the 
ideal  life  prescribed  for  a  Brahman,  and  ancient  Indian  litera- 
ture shows  that  it  was  to  a  large  extent  practically  carried  out. 
Throughout  his  whole  existence  the  true  Brahman  practiced  a  strict 
temperance;  drinking  no  wine,  using  a  simple  diet,  curbing  the 
desires;  shut  off  from  the  tumults  of  war,  as  his  business  was  to 
pray,  not  to  fight,  and  having  his  thoughts  ever  fixed  on  study  and 
contemplation.  "  What  is  this  world  ?  "  says  a  Brahman  sage. 
"  It  is  even  as  the  bough  of  a  tree,  on  which  a  bird  rests  for  a  night, 
and  in  the  morning  flies  away." 


THE     ARYANS  45 

The  Brahmans,  therefore,  were  a  body  of  men  who,  in  an 
early  stage  of  this  world's  history,  bound  themselves  by  a  rule  of 
life  the  essential  precepts  of  which  were  self-culture  and  self- 
restraint.  The  Brahmans  of  the  present  India  are  the  result  of 
3000  years  of  hereditary  education  and  temperance ;  and  they  have 
evolved  a  type  of  mankind  quite  distinct  from  the  surrounding 
population.  Even  the  passing  traveler  in  India  marks  them  out, 
alike  from  the  bronze-cheeked,  large-limbed,  leisure-loving  Rajput 
or  Kshattriya,  the  warrior  caste  of  Aryan  descent;  and  from  the 
dark-skinned,  flat-nosed,  thick-lipped  low  castes  of  non-Aryan 
origin,  with  their  short  bodies  and  bullet  heads.  The  Brahman 
stands  apart  from  both,  tall  and  slim,  with  finely-modeled  lips  and 
nose,  fair  complexion,  high  forehead,  and  slightly  cocoa-nut  shaped 
skull — the  man  of  self-centered  refinement.  He  is  an  example  of  a 
class  becoming  the  ruling  power  in  a  country,  not  by  force  of  arms, 
but  by  the  vigor  of  hereditary  culture  and  temperance.  One  race 
has  swept  across  India  after  another,  dynasties  have  risen  and 
fallen,  religions  have  spread  themselves  over  the  land  and  dis- 
appeared, but  since  the  dawn  of  history  the  Brahman  has  calmly 
ruled;  swaying  the  minds  and  receiving  the  homage  of  the  people, 
and  accepted  by  foreign  nations  as  the  highest  type  of  Indian  man- 
kind. The  position  which  the  Brahmans  won  resulted  in  no  small 
measure  from  the  benefits  which  they  bestowed.  For  their  own 
Aryan  countrymen  they  developed  a  noble  language  and  literature. 
The  Brahmans  were  not  only  the  priests  and  philosophers,  but  also 
the  lawgivers,  the  men  of  science,  and  the  poets  of  their  race. 
Their  influence  on  the  aboriginal  peoples,  the  hill  and  forest  races 
of  India,  was  even  more  important.  To  these  rude  remnants  of  the 
flint  and  stone  ages  they  brought,  in  ancient  times,  a  knowledge  of 
the  metals  and  the  gods. 

The  Brahmans,  among  themselves,  soon  began  to  see  that  the 
old  gods  of  the  Vedic  hymns  were  in  reality  not  supreme  beings, 
but  poetic  fictions.  For  when  they  came  to  think  the  matter  out, 
they  found  that  the  sun,  the  aqueous  vapor,  the  encompassing  sky, 
the  wind,  and  the  dawn  could  not  each  be  separate  and  supreme 
creators,  but  must  have  all  proceeded  from  one  first  cause.  They 
did  not  shock  the  more  ignorant  castes  by  any  public  rejection  of 
the  Vedic  deities.  They  accepted  the  old  "  shining  ones  "  of  the 
Veda  as  beautiful  manifestations  of  the  divine  power,  and  con- 
tinued  to   decorously  conduct   the  sacrifices   in  their  honor,   but 


46  INDIA 

among  their  own  caste  the  Brahmans  taught  the  unity  of  God. 
The  mass  of  the  people  were  left  to  believe  in  four  castes,  four 
Vedas,  and  many  deities,  but  the  higher  thinkers  among  the  Brah- 
mans recognized  that  in  the  beginning  there  was  but  one  caste,  one 
Veda,  and  one  God. 

The  confused  old  groups  of  deities  or  shining  ones  in  the  Veda 
thus  gave  place  to  the  grand  conception  of  one  God,  in  his  three 
solemn  manifestations  as  Brahma  the  creator,  Vishnu  the  pre- 
server, and  Siva  the  destroyer  and  reproducer.  Each  of  these  had 
his  prototype  among  the  Vedic  deities;  and  they  remain  to  this 
day  the  three  persons  of  the  Hindu  trinity.  Brahma,  the  creator,  or 
first  person  of  the  trinity,  was  too  abstract  an  idea  to  be  a  popular 
god.  Vishnu,  the  second  person  of  the  trinity,  was  a  more  useful 
and  friendly  deity.  He  is  said  to  have  ten  times  come  down  from 
heaven  and  lived  on  the  earth.  These  were  the  ten  incarnations 
(avatars)  of  Vishnu.  Siva,  the  third  person  of  the  trinity,  appears 
as  both  the  destroyer  and  reproducer;  and  thus  shows  to  the  eye 
of  faith  that  death  is  but  a  change  of  state,  and  an  entry  into  a  new 
life.  Vishnu  and  Siva,  in  their  diverse  male  and  female  shapes, 
now  form  the  principal  gods  of  the  Hindus. 

The  Brahmans  thus  built  up  a  religion  for  the  Indian  people. 
They  also  worked  out  a  system  of  philosophy,  and  arranged  its 
doctrines  in  six  schools — darsanas,  literally  mirrors  of  knowledge 
— at  least  500  years  before  Christ.  They  had  moreover  a  circle  of 
sciences  of  their  own.  The  Sanskrit  grammar  of  Panini,  compiled 
about  350  b.  c,  is  still  the  foundation  of  the  study  of  Aryan 
language.3  In  this  subject  the  Brahmans  were  far  before  the 
Greeks  or  Romans,  or  indeed  any  European  nation  down  to  the 
present  century.  Their  Sanskrit,  or  "  perfected  speech,"  succeeded 
after  a  long  interval  to  the  earlier  language  of  the  Veda,  but  seems 
to  have  been  used  only,  or  chiefly,  by  the  learned.  The  people  spoke 
a  simpler  form  of  the  same  language,  called  Prakrit.  From  this 
old  Prakrit  the  modern  dialects  of  India  descend.  The  Brahmans, 
however,  always  wrote  in  Sanskrit,  which  sank  in  time  into  a  dead 
language  unknown  to  the  people.  The  Brahmans  alone,  therefore, 
could  read  the  sacred  books  or  write  new  ones ;  and  in  this  way  they 
became  the  only  men  of  learning  in  India. 

3  President  B.  I.  Wheeler's  "  Whence  and  Whither  of  the  Modern  Science  of 
Language  "  (University  of  California  Publications,  "  Classical  Philology,"  Vol.  I. 
No.  3,  Berkeley,  1905),  gives  a  succinct  account  of  the  importance  of  Sanskrit 
grammar  in  the  study  of  philology. 


THE     ARYANS  47 

As  early  as  250  b.  c.  two  alphabets,  or  systems  of  written 
characters,  were  used  in  India.  The  Brahmans  preferred  to  hand 
down  their  holy  learning  by  memory,  rather  than  to  write  it  out. 
Good  Brahmans  had  to  learn  the  Veda  by  heart,  besides  many  other 
books.  This  was  the  easier,  as  almost  all  their  literature  was  in 
verse  (slokas).  In  the  very  ancient  times,  just  after  the  Vedic 
hymns,  a  pure  style  of  prose,  simple  and  compact,  had  grown  up, 
but  during  more  than  2000  years  the  Brahmans  have  composed 
almost  entirely  in  verse;  and  prose-writing  was  for  long  almost  a 
lost  art  in  India. 

The  Brahmans  studied  the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
so  as  to  fix  the  proper  dates  for  the  annual  sacrifices.  More  than 
3000  years  ago  the  Vedic  poets  had  worked  out  a  fairly  correct 
calculation  of  the  solar  year,  which  they  divided  into  360  days,  with 
an  extra  month  every  five  years  to  make  up  for  the  odd  5!  days  per 
annum.  They  were  also  acquainted  with  the  phases  of  the  moon, 
the  motions  of  the  planets,  and  the  signs  of  the  zodiac.  The  Brah- 
mans had  advanced  far  in  astronomy  before  the  Greeks  arrived  in 
India  in  327  b.  c.  They  were  not,  however,  ashamed  to  learn  from 
the  newcomers;  and  one  of  the  five  systems  of  Brahman  astron- 
omy is  called  the  Romaka  or  Greek  science,  but  in  time  the  Hindus 
surpassed  the  Greeks  in  this  matter.  The  fame  of  the  Brahman 
astronomers  spread  westward,  and  their  works  were  translated  by 
the  Arabs  about  800  a.  d.,  and  so  reached  Europe.  After  the  Mo- 
hammedans began  to  ravage  India  in  1000  a.  d.,  Brahman  science 
declined,  but  Hindu  astronomers  arose  from  time  to  time,  and  their 
observatories  may  still  be  seen  at  Benares  and  elsewhere.  An 
Indian  astronomer,  the  Maharaja  Jai  Singh,  was  able  to  correct  the 
list  of  stars  published  by  the  celebrated  French  astronomer  De  La 
Hire,  in  1702.  The  Maharaja  Siwai  Jai  Singh  II.  founded  the 
city  of  Jaipur  in  1728.  He  was  a  famous  mathematician  and 
astronomer  and  erected  five  observatories  in  different  cities  of 
the  Mogul  empire,  the  largest  being  at  Jaipur,  and  another  at 
Benares. 

The  Brahmans  also  worked  out  a  system  of  medicine  for  them- 
selves. As  they  had  to  study  the  heavenly  bodies  in  order  to  fix 
the  dates  of  their  yearly  festivals,  so  they  made  their  first  steps  in 
anatomy,  by  cutting  up  the  animals  at  the  sacrifice,  with  a  view  to 
offering  the  different  parts  to  the  proper  gods.  They  ranked 
medical  science  as  an  Upa-Veda,  or  later  revelation  from  heaven. 


48  INDIA 

The  ancient  Brahmans  did  not  shrink  from  dissecting  the  dead 
bodies  of  animals.  They  also  trained  their  students  by  means  of 
operations  performed  on  wax  spread  over  a  board,  instead  of  flesh, 
and  on  the  stems  of  plants.  The  hospitals  which  the  Buddhist 
princes  set  up  throughout  India  for  man  and  beast  gave  great  op- 
portunities for  the  study  and  treatment  of  disease. 

In  medicine  the  Brahmans  learned  nothing  from  the  Greeks, 
but  taught  them  much.  Arab  medicine  was  founded  on  trans- 
lations from  Sanskrit  works  about  800  a.  d.  Mediaeval  European 
medicine,  in  its  turn,  down  to  the  seventeenth  century,  was,  in  many 
important  respects,  based  upon  the  Arabic.  The  Indian  physician 
Charaka  was  quoted  in  European  books  of  medicine  written  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  He  is  said  to  have  been  connected  with  the  court  of 
Kanishka  in  the  first  century  A.  d.,  and  his  writings  with  those  of 
Susruta  are  the  most  important  ancient  Hindu  medical  treatises. 

As  Buddhism  passed  into  modern  Hinduism  (600-1000  a.  d.), 
and  the  shackles  of  caste  were  imposed  with  an  iron  rigor,  the 
Brahmans  more  scrupulously  avoided  contact  with  blood  or  dis- 
eased matter.  They  left  the  medical  profession  to  the  Vaidyas,  a 
lower  caste,  sprung  from  a  Brahman  father  and  a  mother  of  the 
Vaisya  or  cultivating  class.  These  in  their  turn  shrank  more  and 
more  from  touching  dead  bodies,  and  from  those  ancient  operations 
on  "  the  carcass  of  a  bullock,"  by  which  alone  surgical  skill  could 
be  acquired.  The  abolition  of  the  public  hospitals,  on  the  down- 
fall of  Buddhism,  must  also  have  proved  a  great  loss  to  Indian 
medicine.  The  Mohammedan  conquests,  commencing  in  1000  a.  d., 
brought  in  a  new  school  of  foreign  physicians,  who  derived  their 
knowledge  from  the  Arabic  translations  of  the  Sanskrit  medical 
works  of  the  best  period.  These  Mussulman  doctors  or  hakims 
monopolized  the  patronage  of  the  Mohammedan  princes  and  nobles 
of  India.  The  decline  of  Hindu  medicine  continued  until  it  sank 
into  the  hands  of  the  village  kabiraj,  whose  knowledge  consists  of 
a  jumble  of  Sanskrit  texts,  useful  lists  of  drugs,  aided  by  spells, 
fasts,  and  quackery.  Hindu  students  now  flock  to  the  medical  col- 
leges established  by  the  British  government,  and  in  this  way  the 
science  is  again  reviving  in  India. 

The  Brahmans  had  also  an  art  of  music  of  their  own.  The 
seven  notes  which  they  invented,  at  least  four  centuries  before 
Christ,  passed  through  the  Persians  to  Arabia,  and  were  thence 
introduced   into   European   music   in   the  .  eleventh   century   a.   d. 


THEARYANS  49 

Hindu  music  declined  under  the  Mohammedan  rule.  Its  complex 
divisions  or  modes  and  numerous  sub-tones  prevent  it  from  pleas- 
ing the  modern  European  ear,  which  has  been  trained  on  a  different 
system;  but  it  is  highly  original  and  interesting  from  a  scientific 
point  of  view.  A  great  revival  of  Indian  music  has  been  brought 
about  by  patriotic  native  gentlemen  in  our  own  days,  and  its  strains 
give  delight  to  millions  of  the  people  of  India. 

The  Brahmans  made  law  a  part  of  their  religion.  Their 
earliest  legal  works  were  "the  household  maxims"  (Grihya  Su- 
tras), some  of  them  perhaps  as  early  as  500  B.C.  The  customs 
of  the  Brahmans  in  northern  India  were  collected  into  the  Code  of 
Manu,  composed  in  its  present  final  form  between  100  and  500  a.  d. 
Another  famous  compilation,  known  as  the  Code  of  Yajnavalkya, 
was  drawn  up  later,  apparently  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  century  a.  d. 
These  codes,  and  the  commentaries  written  upon  them,  still  rule  the 
family  life  of  the  Hindus.  They  set  forth  the  law  in  three  branches : 
domestic  and  civil  rights  and  duties,  the  administration  of  justice, 
religious  purifications  and  penance.  They  contain  many  rules 
about  marriage,  inheritance,  and  food.  They  keep  the  castes  apart, 
by  forbidding  them  to  intermarry  or  to  eat  together.  They  were 
accepted  as  almost  divine  laws  by  the  Hindus;  and  the  spread  of 
these  codes  was  the  work  of  the  Brahmans  as  the  civilizers  of  India. 
They  really  record  only  the  customs  of  the  Brahman  kingdoms  in 
the  north,  and  do  not  truly  apply  to  all  the  Indian  races.  The 
greatest  Hindu  lawgivers  agree  that  the  usages  of  each  different 
country  in  India  are  to  be  respected;  and  in  this  way  they  make 
allowance  for  the  laws  or  customs  of  the  non-Aryan  tribes.  Thus 
among  the  Brahmans  it  would  be  disgraceful  for  a  woman  to  have 
two  husbands,  but  among  the  Nairs  of  southern  India  and  other 
non-Aryan  races  it  is  the  custom;  therefore  it  is  legal  for  such 
races,  and  all  the  laws  of  inheritance  among  these  peoples  are 
regulated  accordingly. 

The  Brahmans  were  not  merely  the  composers  and  keepers  of 
the  sacred  books,  the  philosophers,  the  men  of  science,  and  the  law- 
makers of  the  Hindu  people — they  were  also  its  poets.  They  did 
not  write  history ;  but  they  told  the  ancient  wars  and  the  lives  of  the 
Aryan  heroes  in  epic  poems.  The  two  most  famous  of  these  are 
the  Mahabharata,  or  chronicles  of  the  Delhi  kings,  and  the  Rama- 
yana,  or  story  of  the  Aryan  advance  into  southern  India. 

The  Mahabharata  is  a  great  collection  of  Indian  legends  in 


50  INDIA 

verse,  some  of  them  as  old  as  the  Vedic  hymns.  The  main  story 
deals  with  a  period  not  later  than  1200  b.  c,  but  it  was  not  put 
together  in  its  present  shape  till  more  than  a  thousand  years  later. 
An  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  Mahabharata  may  be  gained  from  the 
fact  that  it  contains  220,000  lines ;  while  the  Iliad  of  Homer  does 
not  amount  to  16,000  lines,  and  Virgil's  ./Eneid  contains  less  than 
10,000. 

The  central  story  of  the  Mahabharata  occupies  scarcely  one- 
fourth  of  the  whole,  or  about  50,000  lines.  It  narrates  a  struggle 
between  two  families  of  the  ruling  lunar  race  for  a  patch  of  coun- 
try near  Delhi.  These  families,  alike  descended  from  the  royal 
Bharata,  consisted  of  two  brotherhoods,  cousins  to  each  other, 
and  both  brought  up  under  the  same  roof.  The  five  Pandavas  were 
the  sons  of  King  Pandu,  who,  smitten  by  a  curse,  resigned  the 
sovereignty  to  his  brother  Dhrita-rashtra,  and  retired  to  a  hermit- 
age in  the  Himalayas,  where  he  died.  The  ruins  of  his  capital, 
Hastinapura,  or  the  elephant  city,  are  pointed  out  beside  a  deserted 
bed  of  the  Ganges,  57  miles  northeast  of  Delhi,  at  this  day.  His 
brother  Dhrita-rashtra  ruled  in  his  stead;  and  to  him  one  hundred 
sons  were  born,  who  took  the  name  of  the  Kauravas  from  an  an- 
cestor, Kuru.  Dhrita-rashtra  acted  as  a  faithful  guardian  to  his 
five  nephews,  the  Pandavas,  and  chose  the  eldest  of  them  as  heir  to 
the  family  kingdom.  His  own  sons  resented  this  act  of  super- 
cession;  and  so  arose  the  quarrel  between  the  hundred  Kauravas 
and  the  five  Pandavas,  which  forms  the  main  story  of  the  Mahabha- 
rata. 

The  hundred  Kauravas  forced  their  father  to  send  away  their 
five  Pandava  cousins  into  the  forest,  and  there  they  treacherously 
burned  down  the  hut  in  which  the  five  Pandavas  dwelt.  The 
Pandavas  escaped,  and  wandered  in  the  disguise  of  Brahmans  to 
the  court  of  King  Draupada,  who  had  proclaimed  a  swayam-vara, 
or  a  maiden's  "  own  choice."  This  was  a  contest  of  arms,  or  with 
the  bow,  among  the  chiefs,  at  which  the  king's  daughter  would  take 
the  victor  as  her  husband.  Arjuna,  one  of  the  five  Pandavas,  bent 
the  mighty  bow  which  had  defied  the  strength  of  all  the  rival  chiefs, 
and  so  obtained  the  fair  princess,  Draupadi,  who  became  the  com- 
mon wife  of  the  five  brethren.  Their  uncle,  the  good  Dhrita- 
rashtra,  recalled  them  to  his  capital,  and  gave  them  one  half  of  the 
family  territory,  reserving  the  other  half  for  his  own  sons.  The 
Pandava  brethren  hived  off  to  a  new  settlement,  Indra-prastha, 


THE     ARYANS  51 

afterward  Delhi,  clearing  the  jungle  and  driving  out  the  Nagas 
or  forest-races. 

For  a  time  peace  reigned.  But  the  Kauravas  tempted 
Yudhishthira,  "firm  in  fight,"  the  eldest  of  the  Pandavas,  to  a 
gambling  match,  at  which  he  lost  his  kingdom,  his  brothers,  him- 
self, and  last  of  all  his  wife.  Their  father,  however,  forced  his 
sons  to  restore  their  wicked  gains  to  their  cousins.  But  Yudhish- 
thira was  again  seduced  by  the  Kauravas  to  stake  his  kingdom  at 
dice,  again  lost  it,  and  had  to  retire  with  his  wife  and  brethren  into 
exile  for  twelve  years.  Their  banishment  ended,  the  five  Pandavas 
returned  at  the  head  of  an  army  to  win  back  their  kingdom.  Many 
battles  followed,  gods  and  divine  heroes  joined  in  the  struggle, 
until  at  last  all  the  hundred  Kauravas  were  slain,  and  of  the  friends 
and  kindred  of  the  Pandavas  only  the  five  brethren  remained. 
Their  uncle,  Dhrita-rashtra,  made  over  to  them  the  whole  kingdom. 
For  a  long  time  the  Pandavas  ruled  gloriously,  celebrating  the 
asva-medha,  or  "  great  horse  sacrifice,"  in  token  of  their  holding 
imperial  sway.  Their  uncle,  old  and  blind,  ever  taunted  them  with 
the  slaughter  of  his  hundred  sons,  until  at  last  he  crept  away,  with 
his  few  surviving  ministers,  his  aged  wife,  and  his  sister-in-law, 
the  mother  of  the  Pandavas,  to  a  hermitage,  where  the  worn-out 
band  perished  in  a  forest  fire.  The  five  brethren,  smitten  by  re- 
morse, gave  up  their  kingdom;  and,  taking  their  wife,  Draupadi, 
and  a  faithful  dog,  they  departed  to  the  Himalayas  to  seek  the 
heaven  of  Indra  on  Mount  Meru.  One  by  one  the  sorrowful  pil- 
grims died  upon  the  road,  until  only  the  eldest  brother,  Yudhish- 
thira, and  the  dog  reached  the  gate  of  heaven.  Indra  invited  him 
to  enter,  but  he  refused  if  his  lost  wife  and  brethren  were  not  also 
admitted.  The  prayer  was  granted ;  but  he  still  declined  unless  his 
faithful  dog  might  come  in  with  him.  This  could  not  be  allowed ; 
and  Yudhishthira,  after  a  glimpse  of  heaven,  was  thrust  down  to 
hell,  where  he  found  many  of  his  old  comrades  in  anguish.  He 
resolved  to  share  their  sufferings  rather  than  to  enjoy  paradise 
alone,  but,  having  triumphed  in  this  crowning  trial,  the  whole  scene 
was  revealed  to  him  to  be  maya  or  illusion,  and  the  reunited  band 
entered  into  heaven,  where  they  rest  forever  with  Indra. 

The  struggle  for  the  kingdom  of  Hastinapura  forms,  however, 
only  a  fourth  of  the  Mahabharata.  The  remainder  is  made  up  of 
other  early  legends,  stories  of  the  gods,  and  religious  discourses, 
intended  to  teach  the  military  caste  its  duties,  especially  its  duty  of 


52  INDIA 

reverence  to  the  Brahmans.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  Mahabharata 
may  he  said  to  form  the  cyclopaedia  of  the  heroic  age  in  northern 
India. 

The  second  great  Indian  epic,  the  Ramayana,  recounts  the 
advance  of  the  Aryans  into  southern  India.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
composed  by  the  poet  Valmiki ;  and  its  main  story  refers  to  a  period 
loosely  estimated  at  about  iooo  b.  c,  but  the  Ramayana  could  not 
have  been  put  together  in  its  present  shape  many  centuries,  if  at  all, 
before  the  Christian  era.  Parts  of  it  may  be  earlier  than  the  Maha- 
bharata, but  the  compilation  as  a  whole  apparently  belongs  to  a 
later  date.    The  Ramayana  consists  of  about  48,000  lines. 

As  the  Mahabharata  celebrates  the  lunar  race  of  Delhi,  so  the 
Ramayana  forms  the  epic,  or  poetic  history,  of  the  solar  race  of 
Ayodhya,  the  capital  of  the  modern  province  of  Oudh.  The  two 
poems  thus  preserve  the  legends  of  the  two  most  famous  Aryan 
kingdoms  at  the  two  opposite,  or  eastern  and  western,  borders  of 
the  old  middle  land  of  Hindustan  (Madhya-desa).  The  opening 
books  of  the  Ramayana  recount  the  wondrous  birth  and  boyhood 
of  Rama,  eldest  son  of  Dasaratha,  king  of  Ayodhya  or  Oudh;  his 
marriage  with  the  princess  Sita,  after  he  proved  himself  the  victor 
at  her  "  own  choice  "  of  a  husband  (swayam-vara),  by  bending  the 
mighty  bow  of  Siva  in  the  contest  of  chiefs;  and  his  selection  as 
heir-apparent  to  his  father's  kingdom.  A  zanana  intrigue  ends  in 
the  youngest  wife  of  Dasaratha,  Rama's  father,  obtaining  the  suc- 
cession for  her  own  son,  Bharata,  and  in  the  exile  of  Rama,  with 
his  bride  Sita,  for  fourteen  years  to  the  forest.  The  banished  pair 
wander  south  to  Prayag,  the  modern  Allahabad,  already  a  place  of 
sanctity,  and  thence  across  the  river  to  the  hermitage  of  Valmiki, 
among  the  jungles  of  Bundelkhand,  where  a  hill  is  still  pointed  out 
as  the  scene  of  their  abode.  Meanwhile  Rama's  father  dies;  and 
the  loyal  younger  brother,  Bharata,  although  declared  the  lawful 
successor,  refuses  to  enter  on  the  inheritance,  and  goes  in  search 
of  Rama  to  bring  him  back  as  rightful  heir.  A  contest  of  fraternal 
affection  takes  place ;  Bharata  at  length  returning  to  rule  the  family 
kingdom  in  the  name  of  Rama,  until  the  latter  should  come  to  claim 
it  at  the  end  of  his  fourteen  years  of  banishment. 

So  far,  the  Ramayana  merely  narrates  the  local  annals  of  the 
court  of  Ayodhya.  In  the  third  book  the  main  story  begins. 
Ravana,  the  demon  or  aboriginal  king  of  the  far  south,  smitten  by 
the  fame  of  Sita's  beauty,  seizes  her  at  the  hermitage  while  her 


THE     ARYANS  53 

husband  Rama  is  away  in  the  jungle,  and  flies  off  with  her  in  a 
magic  chariot  through  the  air  to  Ceylon.  The  next  three  books 
(4th,  5th,  and  6th)  recount  the  expedition  of  the  bereaved  Rama 
for  her  recovery.  He  allies  himself  with  the  aboriginal  tribes  of 
southern  India,  who  bear  the  names  of  monkeys  and  bears,  and 
raises  among  them  a  great  army.  The  monkey  general,  Hanuman, 
jumps  across  the  straits  between  India  and  Ceylon,  discovers  the 
princess  in  captivity,  and  leaps  back  with  the  news  to  Rama.  The 
monkey  troops  then  build  a  causeway  across  the  narrow  sea,— 
the  Adam's  Bridge  of  modern  geography, — by  which  Rama 
marches  across,  and,  after  slaying  the  monster  Ravana,  delivers 
Sita.  The  rescued  wife  proves  her  faithfulness  to  him,  during  her 
stay  in  the  palace  of  Ravana,  by  the  ancient  ordeal  of  fire.  Agni, 
the  god  of  that  element,  himself  conducts  her  out  of  the  burning 
pile  to  her  husband;  and,  the  fourteen  years  of  banishment  being 
over,  Rama  and  Sita  return  in  triumph  to  Ayodhya.  There  they 
reigned  gloriously;  and  Rama  celebrated  the  great  horse  sacrifice 
(asva-medha)  as  a  token  of  his  imperial  sway  over  India.  A 
famine  having  smitten  the  land,  Rama  regards  it  as  a  punishment 
sent  by  God  for  some  crime  committed  in  the  royal  family.  Doubts 
arise  in  his  heart  as  to  his  wife's  purity  while  in  her  captor's  power 
at  Ceylon.  He  accordingly  banishes  the  faithful  Sita,  who  wanders 
forth  again  to  Valmiki's  hermitage,  where  she  gives  birth  to  Rama's 
two  sons.  After  sixteen  years  of  exile,  she  is  reconciled  to  her 
repentant  husband,  and  Rama  and  Sita  and  their  children  are  at 
last ,  reunited. 

The  Mahabharata  and  the  Ramayana,  however  overlaid  with 
fable,  form  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  the  middle  land  of  Hin- 
dustan (Madhya-desa),  their  family  feuds,  and  their  national  enter- 
prises. In  the  later  Sanskrit  epics,  the  stories  of  the  heroes  give 
place  more  and  more  to  legends  of  the  gods.  Among  them  the 
Raghu-vansa  and  the  Kumara-sambhava,  both  assigned  to  Kalidasa, 
take  the  first  rank.  The  Raghu-vansa  celebrates  the  solar  line  of 
Raghu,  king  of  Ayodhya,  and  especially  his  descendant  Rama.  The 
Kumara-sambhava  recounts  the  birth  of  the  war-god.  These  two 
poems  could  not  have  been  composed  in  their  present  shape  before 

350  A.  D. 

In  India,  as  in  Greece  and  Rome,  scenic  representations  seem 
to  have  taken  their  rise  in  the  rude  pantomime  of  a  very  early  age, 
possibly  as  far  back  as  the  Vedic  ritual;  and  the  Sanskrit  word 


54  INDIA 

for  the  drama,  nataka,  is  derived  from  nata,  a  dancer.  The  San- 
skrit plays  of  the  classical  age  which  have  come  down  to  us 
probably  belong  to  the  period  between  the  first  century  b.  c.  and  the 
eighth  century  a.  d.  The  father  of  the  Sanskrit  drama  is  Kalidasa, 
already  mentioned  as  the  composer  of  the  two  later  Sanskrit  epics. 
According  to  Hindu  tradition,  he  was  one  of  the  "  nine  gems," 
or  distinguished  men  at  the  court  of  Vikramaditya,  king  of  Ujjain, 
in  57  b.  c,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  were  several  king 
Vikramadityas,  and  the  one  under  whom  Kalidasa  flourished  ap- 
pears to  have  ruled  over  Malwa  in  the  sixth  century  a.  d. 

The  most  famous  drama  of  Kalidasa  is  u  Sakuntala,  or  the 
Lost  Ring."  Like  the  ancient  Sanskrit  epics,  it  divides  its  action 
between  the  court  of  the  king  and  the  hermitage  in  the  forest. 
Prince  Dushyanta,  an  ancestor  of  the  noble  lunar  race,  weds  a 
beautiful  Brahman  girl,  Sakuntala,  at  her  father's  retreat  in  the 
jungle.  Before  returning  to  his  capital,  he  gives  his  bride  a  ring 
as  a  pledge  of  his  love;  but,  smitten  by  a  curse  from  a  Brahman, 
she  loses  the  ring,  and  cannot  be  recognized  by  her  husband  till 
it  is  found.  Sakuntala  bears  a  son  in  her  loneliness,  and  sets  out 
to  claim  recognition  for  herself  and  child  at  her  husband's  court, 
but  she  is  as  one  unknown  to  the  prince,  till,  after  many  sorrows 
and  trials,  the  ring  comes  to  light.  She  is  then  happily  reunited 
with  her  husband,  and  her  son  grows  up  to  be  the  noble  Bharata, 
the  chief  founder  of  the  lunar  dynasty,  whose  achievements  form 
the  theme  of  the  Mahabharata.  Sakuntala,  like  Sita,  is  a  type  of 
the  chaste  and  faithful  Hindu  wife ;  and  her  love  and  sorrow,  after 
forming  the  favorite  romance  of  the  Indian  people  for  perhaps 
eighteen  hundred  years,  supplied  a  theme  for  Goethe,  in  the 
"  Vorspiel  auf  dem  Theater  "  prefixed  to  his  "  Faust." 

Among  other  Hindu  dramas  and  poems  may  be  mentioned  the 
"  Mrichchhakatika,  or  Earthen  Toy  Cart,"  in  ten  acts,  on  the  old 
theme  of  the  innocent  cleared  and  the  guilty  punished ;  and  the  poem 
of  "  Nala  and  Damayanti,  or  the  Royal  Gambler  and  the  Faithful 
Wife."  Many  plays  often  founded  upon  some  story  in  the  Maha- 
bharata or  Ramayana,  issue  every  year  from  the  Indian  press. 

Besides  the  epic  chronicles  of  their  gods  and  heroes,  the  Brah- 
mans  composed  many  religious  poems.  One  of  the  most  beautiful 
is  the  "  Gita  Govinda,  or  Song  of  the  Divine  Herdsman,"  written 
by  Jayadeva  about  1200  a.  d.  The  Puranas  are  an  enormous  col- 
lection of  religious  discourses  in  verse. 


THEARYANS  55 

Fables  of  animals  have  from  old  been  favorites  in  India.  The 
Sanskrit  "  Pancha-tantra"  or  "  Book  of  Beast  Tales,"  was  trans- 
lated into  Persian  as  early  as  the  sixth  century  a.  d.  ;  and  thence 
found  its  way  to  Europe.  Some  of  the  animal  fables  of  ancient 
India  are  among  the  familiar  nursery  stories  of  England  and 
America  at  the  present  day. 

In  order  to  understand  the  long  rule  of  the  Brahmans,  and  the 
influence  which  they  still  wield,  it  is  necessary  ever  to  keep  in  mind 
their  position  as  the  great  literary  caste.  Their  priestly  supremacy 
has  been  repeatedly  assailed,  and  during  a  space  of  nearly  a  thou- 
sand years  it  was  overborne  by  the  Buddhists.  Throughout  twenty- 
five  centuries  the  Brahmans  have  been  the  writers  and  thinkers  of 
India,  the  counselors  of  Hindu  princes  and  the  teachers  of  the 
Hindu  people.  The  education  and  learning  which  so  long  gave 
them  their  power  have  ceased  to  be  the  monopoly  of  their  caste, 
and  may  now  be  acquired  by  all  races  and  all  classes  in  India. 


Chapter   V 

BUDDHISM.    543  B.C.-iooo  A.D. 

THE  Brahmans  had  firmly  established  their  power  600  years 
before  Christ.  After  that  date  a  new  religion  arose  in 
India,  called  Buddhism,  from  the  name  of  its  founder, 
Gautama  Buddha.  This  new  religion  was  a  rival  to  Brahmanism 
during  more  than  a  thousand  years.  About  the  ninth  century  a.  d. 
Buddhism  was  driven  out  of  India,  but  it  is  still  professed  by  many 
millions  of  people  in  Asia,  and  some  claim  that  it  has  more  followers 
than  any  other  religion  in  the  world.  However,  this  statement  can 
not  be  substantiated,  for  there  exist  nothing  but  estimates  of  the 
population  of  several  of  the  Buddhist  countries  and  it  is  exceedingly 
difficult  to  determine  who  are  and  who  are  not  to  be  reckoned  as 
Buddhists.  The  result  is  that  estimates  of  the  number  of  Bud- 
dhists range  all  the  way  from  150,000,000  to  500,000,000.  Esti- 
mates of  the  number  of  Christians  in  the  world  center  around 
450,000,000. 

Gautama,  afterward  named  Buddha,  was  the  only  son  of  Sud- 
dhodana,  king  of  Kapilavastu.  This  prince  ruled  over  the  Sakya 
people,  about  100  miles  north  of  Benares,  and  within  sight  of  the 
snow-topped  Himalayas.  The  king  wished  to  see  his  son  grow  up 
into  a  warrior  like  himself,  but  the  young  prince  shunned  the  sports 
of  his  playmates,  and  spent  his  time  alone  in  nooks  of  the  palace 
garden.  When  he  reached  manhood,  however,  he  showed  himself 
brave  and  skillful  with  his  weapons.  He  won  his  wife  by  a  contest 
at  arms  over  all  rival  chiefs.  For  a  time  he  forgot  the  religious 
thoughts  of  his  boyhood  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  world,  but  in  his 
drives  through  the  city  he  was  struck  by  the  sights  of  old  age, 
disease,  and  death  which  met  his  eye ;  and  he  envied  the  calm  of  a 
holy  man,  who  seemed  to  have  raised  his  soul  above  the  changes 
and  sorrows  of  this  life.  After  ten  years,  his  wife  bore  to  him  an 
only  son;  and  Gautama,  fearing  lest  this  new  tie  should  bind  him 

56 


BUDDHISM  57 

543   B.  C.- 1000  A.  D. 

too  closely  to  the  things  of  earth,  retired  about  the  age  of  thirty 
to  a  cave  in  the  jungles.  The  story  is  told  how  he  turned  away 
from  the  door  of  his  wife's  lamp-lit  chamber,  denying  himself  even 
a  parting  caress  of  his  newborn  babe,  lest  he  should  wake  the 
sleeping  mother,  and  galloped  off  into  the  darkness.  After  a 
gloomy  night  ride,  he  sent  back  his  one  companion,  the  faithful 
charioteer,  with  his  horse  and  jewels  to  his  father.  Having  cut 
off  his  long  warrior  hair,  and  exchanged  his  princely  raiment  for 
the  rags  of  a  poor  passer-by,  he  went  on  alone  a  homeless  beggar. 
This  giving  up  of  princely  pomp,  and  of  loved  wife  and  newborn 
son,  is  the  great  renunciation  which  forms  a  favorite  theme  in  the 
Buddhist  scriptures. 

For  a  time  Gautama  studied  under  two  Brahman  hermits,  in 
Patna  district.  They  taught  him  that  the  peace  of  the  soul  was  to 
be  reached  only  by  mortifying  the  body.  He  then  buried  himself 
deeper  in  the  jungles  near  Gaya,  and  during  six  years  wasted 
himself  by  austerities  in  company  with  five  disciples.  The  temple 
of  Buddha-Gaya  marks  the  site  of  his  long  penance.  Instead  of 
earning  peace  of  mind  by  fasting  and  self-torture,  he  sank  into  a 
religious  despair,  during  which  the  Buddhist  scriptures  affirm  that 
the  enemy  of  mankind,  Mara,  wrestled  with  him  in  bodily  shape. 
Torn  with  doubts  as  to  whether  all  his  penance  availed  anything, 
the  haggard  hermit  fell  senseless  to  the  earth.  When  he  recovered, 
the  mental  agony  had  passed.  He  felt  that  the  path  to  salvation  lay 
not  in  self-torture  in  mountain- jungles  or  caves,  but  in  preaching 
a  higher  life  to  his  fellow-men.  He  gave  up  penance.  His  five 
disciples,  shocked  by  this,  forsook  him ;  and  he  was  left  alone  in  the 
forest.  The  Buddhist  scriptures  depict  him  as  sitting  serene  under 
a  fig  tree,  while  demons  whirled  round  him  with  flaming  weapons. 
From  this  temptation  in  the  wilderness  he  came  forth  with  his 
doubts  forever  laid  at  rest,  seeing  his  way  clear,  and  henceforth 
to  be  known  as  Buddha,  literally  "  the  enlightened." 

Buddha  began  his  public  teaching  in  the  Deer-Forest,  near 
the  great  city  of  Benares.  Unlike  the  Brahmans,  he  preached,  not 
to  one  or  two  disciples  of  the  sacred  caste,  but  to  the  people.  His 
first  converts  were  common  men,  and  among  the  earliest  were 
women.  After  three  months  he  had  gathered  around  him  sixty 
disciples,  whom  he  sent  forth  to  the  neighboring  countries  with 
these  words :  "  Go  ye  now,  and  preach  the  most  excellent  law." 
Two-thirds  of  each  year  he  spent  as  a  wandering  preacher.    The 


58  INDIA 

S43  B.  C.-1000  A.  D. 

remaining  four  months,  or  the  rainy  season,  he  abode  at  some  fixed 
place,  teaching  the  people  who  flocked  around  his  little  dwelfing  in 
the  bamboo  grove.  His  five  old  disciples,  who  had  forsaken  him  in 
the  time  of  his  sore  temptation  in  the  wilderness,  now  came  back 
to  their  master.  Princes,  merchants,  artisans,  Brahmans  and  her- 
mits, husbandmen  and  serfs,  noble  ladies  and  repentant  women 
who  had  sinned,  were  added  to  those  who  believed.  Buddha 
preached  throughout  Behar,  Oudh,  and  the  adjacent  districts  in  the 
Northwestern  Provinces.  He  had  ridden  forth  from  his  father's 
palace  as  a  brilliant  young  prince.  He  now  returned  to  it  as  a 
wandering  preacher,  in  dingy  yellow  robes,  with  shaven  head  and 
the  begging  bowl  in  his  hand.  The  old  king  heard  him  with 
reverence.  The  son,  whom  Buddha  had  left  as  a  newborn  babe, 
was  converted  to  the  faith ;  and  his  beloved  wife,  from  the  threshold 
of  whose  chamber  he  had  ridden  away  into  the  darkness,  became 
one  of  the  first  of  Buddhist  nuns. 

Buddha's  great  renunciation  took  place  in  his  thirtieth  year. 
After  long  self-preparation,  his  public  teaching  began  when  he  was 
about  thirty-six,  and  during  forty-four  years  he  preached  to  the 
people.  In  foretelling  his  death,  he  said  to  his  followers :  "  Be  ear- 
nest, be  thoughtful,  be  holy.  Keep  steadfast  watch  over  your  own 
hearts.  He  who  holds  fast  to  the  law  and  discipline,  and  faints 
not,  he  shall  cross  the  ocean  of  life  and  make  an  end  of  sorrow." 
"  The  world  is  fast  bound  in  fetters,"  he  added :  "  I  now  give  it 
deliverance,  as  a  physician  who  brings  heavenly  medicine.  Keep 
your  mind  on  my  teaching:  all  other  things  change,  this  changes 
not.  No  more  shall  I  speak  to  you.  I  desire  to  depart.  I  desire  the 
eternal  rest  (Nirvana)."  He  spent  the  night  in  preaching,  and  in 
comforting  a  weeping  disciple.  His  last  words,  according  to  one 
account,  were,  "  Work  out  your  salvation  with  diligence."  He  died 
calmly,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  under  the  shadow  of  a  fig  tree,  accord- 
ing to  the  commonly  received  tradition  in  543  b.  c.  ;  or  according 
to  later  criticism  in  478  b.  c. 

The  secret  of  Buddha's  success  was,  that  he  brought  spiritual 
deliverance  to  the  people.  He  preached  that  salvation  was  equally 
open  to  all  men,  and  that  it  must  be  earned,  not  by  propitiating 
imaginary  deities,  but  by  our  own  conduct.  He  thus  did  away  with 
sacrifices,  and  with  the  priestly  claims  of  the  Brahmans  as  media- 
tors between  God  and  man.  He  taught  that  the  state  of  a  man  in 
this  life,  in  all  previous  and  in  all  future  lives,  is  the  result  of  his 


BUDDHISM  59 

543  B.  C.-1000  A.  D.  v 

own  acts  (Karma).  What  a  man  sows,  that  he  must  reap.  As 
no  evil  remains  without  punishment,  and  no  good  deed  without 
reward,  it  follows  that  neither  priest  nor  God  can  prevent  each 
act  from  bringing  about  its  own  consequences.  Misery  or  happi- 
ness in  this  life  is  the  unavoidable  result  of  our  conduct  in  a  past 
life ;  and  our  actions  here  will  determine  our  happiness  or  misery 
in  the  life  to  come.  When  any  creature  dies,  he  is  born  again 
in  some  higher  or  lower  state  of  existence,  according  to  his  merit 
or  demerit.  His  merit  or  demerit  consists  of  the  sum  total  of  his 
actions  in  all  previous  lives.  A  system  like  this,  in  which  our  whole 
well-being — past,  present,  and  to  come — depends  on  ourselves, 
leaves  little  room  for  a  personal  God. 

Life,  according  to  Buddha,  must  always  be  more  or  less  pain- 
ful; and  the  object  of  every  good  man  is  to  get  rid  of  the  evils  of 
existence  by  merging  his  individual  soul  into  the  universal  soul. 
This  is  Nirvana,  literally  "  cessation."  Some  scholars  explain  it 
to  mean  that  the  soul  is  blown  out  like  the  flame  of  a  lamp.  Others 
hold  that  it  is  the  extinction  of  the  sins,  sorrows,  and  selfishness 
of  a  man's  individual  life — the  final  rest  of  the  soul.  The  pious 
Buddhist  strives  to  reach  a  state  of  holy  meditation  in  this  world, 
and  he  looks  forward  to  an  eternal  calm  in  a  world  to  come.  Bud- 
dha taught  that  this  end  could  only  be  reached  by  leading  a  good 
life.  Instead  of  the  Brahman  sacrifices,  he  laid  down  three  great 
duties,  namely,  control  over  self,  kindness  to  other  men,  and  rev- 
erence for  the  life  of  all  living  creatures. 

He  urged  on  his  disciples  that  they  must  not  only  follow  the 
true  path  themselves,  but  that  they  should  preach  it  to  all  mankind. 
Buddhism  has  from  the  first  been  a  missionary  religion.  One  of 
the  earliest  acts  of  Buddha's  public  ministry  was  to  send  forth  the 
sixty  disciples.  He  also  formed  a  religious  order,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  go  forth  unpaid  and  preach  to  all  nations.  While,  therefore, 
the  Brahmans  kept  their  ritual  for  the  twice-born  Aryan  castes, 
Buddhism  addressed  itself  not  only  to  those  castes  and  to  the  lower 
mass  of  the  people,  but  to  all  the  non-Aryan  races  throughout  India, 
and  eventually  to  the  whole  Asiatic  world. 

On  the  death  of  Buddha,  legend  says  five  hundred  of  his 
disciples  met  in  a  vast  cave  near  Patna,  to  gather  together  his  say- 
ings. This  was  the  First  Council.  They  chanted  the  lessons  of 
their  master  in  three  great  divisions — the  words  of  Buddha  to  his 
disciples ;  his  code  of  discipline ;  and  his  system  of  doctrine.    These 


60  INDIA 

543  B.  C.-1000  A.  D. 

became  the  Three  Collections  (Tipitaka1  in  Pali  and  Tripitaka  in 
Sanskrit)  of  Buddha's  teaching;  and  the  word  for  a  Buddhist 
council  means  literally  "  a  singing  together."  The  complete  text  of 
the  southern  canon  in  the  Pali  language  but  in  Siamese  characters 
was  printed  under  royal  patronage  at  Bangkok,  in  1893  and  1894, 
and  49  sets  of  the  work  were  distributed  among  American  libraries 
by  the  king  of  Siam. 

A  century  afterward,  the  Second  Council,  of  seven  hundred, 
was  held  to  settle  disputes  between  the  more  and  less  strict  followers 
of  Buddhism.  These  two  councils  are  not  recognized  as  historical 
by  scholars. 

During  the  next  two  hundred  years  Buddhism  spread  over 
northern  India.  About  257  b.  a,  Asoka,2  the  king  of  Magadha 
or  Behar,  became  a  zealous  convert  to  the  faith.  He  was  grandson 
of  Chandra  Gupta,  whom  we  shall  hear  of  in  Alexander's  camp. 
And  his  dates  have  been  provisionally  fixed  as  follows:  his  acces- 
sion 257  b.  c,  his  Council  244  b.  c,  his  death  223  b.  a,  and  it  is 
by  working  back  from  these  dates  that  the  year  478  b.  c.  is  de- 
termined for  the  death  of  Buddha.  Asoka  is  said  to  have  supported 
64,000  Buddhist  priests;  he  founded  many  religious  houses;  and 
his  kingdom  is  called  the  land  of  the  monasteries  ( Vihara  or  Behar) 
to  this  day.  Asoka  did  for  Buddhism  what  the  Emperor  Con- 
stantine  afterward  effected  for  Christianity — he  made  it  a  state 
religion.  This  he  accomplished  by  five  means — by  a  council  to 
settle  the  faith;  by  edicts  setting  forth  its  principles;  by  a  state 
department  to  watch  over  its  purity;  by  missionaries  to  spread  its 
doctrines;  and  by  an  authoritative  revision  or  canon  of  the  Bud- 
dhist scriptures. 

In  244  b.  c,  Asoka  convened  at  Patna  the  Third  Buddhist 
Council,  of  one  thousand  elders.  Evil  men,  taking  on  them  the 
yellow  robe  of  the  Buddhist  order,  had  given  forth  their  own 
opinions  as  the  teaching  of  Buddha.  Such  heresies  were  now  cor- 
rected; and  the  Buddhism  of  southern  Asia  practically  dates  from 
Asoka's  Council.  In  a  number  of  edicts,  both  before  and  after 
that  Council,  he  published  throughout  his  empire  the  grand  prin- 
ciples of  the  faith.     Forty  of  these  royal  sermons  are  still  found 

xThe  Pali  Text  Society  has  published  portions  of  the  "Tipitika"  (London, 
1882-1896)  ;  and  translations  of  selected  portions  appear  in  the  "  Sacred  Books  of 
the  East." 

2  See  V.  A.  Smith,  "Asoka,  the  Buddhist  Emperor  of  India"  ("Rulers  of 
India"  series,  London,  1901). 


BUDDHISM  61 

543   B.  C.-1000  A.  D.  " 

graven  upon  pillars,  caves,  and  rocks  throughout  India.  Asoka 
also  founded  a  state  department,  with  a  minister  of  justice  and 
religion  at  its  head,  to  watch  over  the  purity,  and  to  direct  the 
spread  of  the  faith.  Wells  were  to  be  dug  and  trees  planted  along 
the  roads  for  the  wearied  wayfarers.  Hospitals  were  established 
for  man  and  beast.  Officers  were  appointed  to  watch  over  family 
life  and  the  morals  of  the  people,  and  to  promote  instruction  among 
the  women  as  well  as  the  youth.  Asoka  thought  it  his  duty  to  con- 
vert all  mankind  to  Buddhism.  His  rock  inscriptions  8  record  how 
he  sent  forth  missionaries  "  to  the  utmost  limits  of  the  barbarian 
countries,"  to  "  intermingle  among  all  unbelievers  "  for  the  spread 
of  religion.  They  were  to  mix  equally  with  soldiers,  Brahmans. 
and  beggars,  with  the  dreaded  and  the  despised,  both  within  the 
kingdom  "  and  in  foreign  countries,  teaching  better  things."  Con- 
version was  to  be  effected  by  persuasion,  not  by  the  sword.  Bud- 
dhism was  at  once  the  most  intensely  missionary  religion  in  the 
world,  and  the  most  tolerant.  Asoka  not  only  labored  to  spread 
his  religion,  but  he  also  took  steps  to  keep  its  doctrines  pure.  He 
collected  the  Buddhist  sacred  books  into  an  authoritative  version, 
in  the  Magadhi  language  of  his  central  kingdom  in  Behar,  a  version 
which  for  two  thousand  years  has  formed  the  southern  canon  of 
the  Buddhist  scriptures. 

The  fourth  and  last  of  the  great  Buddhist  Councils  was  held 
under  the  Scythian  king,  Kanishka,  who  ruled  in  northwestern 
India  for  sixty  years,  about  15  b.  c.  to  45  a.  d.  Another  authority 
places  his  accession  in  78  a.  d.  This  Council  of  Kanishka  is  not 
recognized  by  the  southern  Buddhists,  while  the  northern  Buddhists 
in  turn  do  not  recognize  the  Council  of  Asoka. 

He  again  revised  the  sacred  books,  and  his  version  has  supplied 
the  northern  canon  to  the  Buddhists  of  Tibet,  Tatary,  and  China. 
Meanwhile  Buddhist  missionaries  were  preaching  all  over  Asia. 
About  243  b.  c.  Asoka's  son  is  said  to  have  carried  his  father's 
southern  canon  of  the  sacred  books  to  Ceylon,  whence  it  spread  in 
later  times  to  Burma  and  the  Eastern  Archipelago.    The  northern 

8  These  inscriptions  purport  to  be  the  work  of  Piyadasi,  who  has  in  various 
ways  been  identified  as  Asoka.  The  most  recent  edition  and  commentary  on 
these  inscriptions  is  to  be  found  in  the  "  Zeitschrift  der  deutschen  Morgenland- 
ische  Gesellschaft,"  vols.  37,  39,  40,  41,  and  43.  There  are  earlier  editions  by 
Cunningham  (Calcutta,  1877),  and  by  Senart  (Paris,  1881-1886).  One  of  these 
inscriptions,  discovered  as  recently  as  1896,  purports  to  be  upon  the  site  of 
Buddha's  birthplace. 


62  INDIA 

543  B.  C.-1000  A.  D. 

canon  of  Buddhism,  as  laid  down  at  the  Council  of  Kanishka,  be- 
came one  of  the  state  religions  of  China  in  65  a.  d.  ;  and  it  is  still 
professed  by  the  northern  Buddhists  from  Tibet  to  Japan.  The 
Buddhist  ritual  and  doctrines  also  spread  westward,  and  exercised 
an  influence  upon  early  Christianity.4  Certain  notable  similarities 
between  Buddhism  and  Catholicism  have  impressed  observers  such 
as  Pere  Hue  in  Tibet.  The  most  interesting  fact,  however,  is  the 
story  of  Barlaam  and  Josaphat.  The  story  of  Buddha  appears  as 
the  life  of  a  Christian  saint  in  the  writings  of  St.  John  of  Damascus 
in  the  eight  century,  and  as  Saint  Josaphat  he  is  honored  in  the 
Greek  Church  on  August  26  and  in  the  Roman  Church  on  Novem- 
ber 27.    A  church  in  Palermo  is  dedicated  to  him. 

Buddhism  was  thus  formed  into  a  state  religion  by  the  Coun- 
cils of  Asoka  and  Kanishka.  It  did  not  abolish  caste.  On  the 
contrary,  reverence  to  Brahmans  and  to  the  spiritual  guide  ranked 
as  one  of  the  three  great  duties,  along  with  obedience  to  parents 
and  acts  of  kindness  to  all  men  and  animals.  Buddha,  however, 
divided  mankind  not  by  their  caste,  but  according  to  their  religious 
merit.  He  told  his  hearers  to  live  good  lives,  not  to  offer  victims 
to  the  gods.  The  public  worship  in  Buddhist  countries  consists, 
therefore,  in  doing  honor  to  the  relics  of  holy  men  who  are  dead, 
instead  of  sacrifices.  Its  sacred  buildings  were,  originally,  not 
temples  to  the  gods,  but  monasteries  for  the  monks  and  nuns,  with 
their  bells  and  rosaries;  or  memorial  shrines,  reared  over  a  tooth 
or  bone  of  the  founder  of  the  faith. 

While,  on  the  one  hand,  many  miraculous  stories  have  grown 
up  around  Buddha's  life  and  death,  it  has  been  denied,5  on  the  other 
hand,  that  such  a  person  as  Buddha  ever  existed.  The  date  of  his 
birth  cannot  be  fixed  with  certainty ;  the  dates  which  are  here  given 
for  his  life  are  those  of  the  received  Indian  tradition.  Some 
scholars  hold  that  Buddhism  is  merely  a  religion  based  on  the 
Brahmanical  or  Sankhya  philosophy  of  Kapila.  They  argue  that 
Buddha's  birth  is  placed  at  a  purely  allegorical  town,  Kapila- Vastu, 

*  See  R.  Spence  Hardy,  "  Christianity  and  Buddhism  Compared  " ;  A.  Lillie, 
"  Influence  of  Buddhism  on  Primitive  Christianity  " ;  R.  Seydel,  "  Das  Evange- 
liunt  von  Jesu  in  seinem  V  erh'dltnissen  sur  Buddha-Sage  und  Buddha-Lehre," 
and  "  Die  Buddha-Legende  und  das  Leben  Jesu  nach  den  Evangelien " ;  Max 
Muller,  "  Essay  on  the  Migration  of  Fables  "  in  vol.  IV.  of  "  Chips  from  a  Ger- 
man Workshop." 

5  Compare  E.  Senart,  "  Essai  sur  la  legende  du  Buddha,  son  caractere  et  ses 
origines." 


BUDDHISM  63 

543   B.  C.-1000  A.  D.  w 

"  the  abode  of  Kapila  "  ;  that  his  mother  is  called  Maya-devi,  in 
reference  to  the  Maya,  or  "  illusion  "  doctrine  of  Kapila's  system ; 
and  that  the  very  name  of  Buddha  is  not  that  of  any  real  person,' 
but  merely  means  "  the  enlightened."  This  theory  is  so  far  true,' 
that  Buddhism  was  not  a  sudden  invention  of  any  single  mind,  but 
was  worked  out  'from  the  Brahman  philosophy  and  religion  which 
preceded  it,  but  such  a  view  leaves  out  of  sight  the  two  great 
traditional  features  of  Buddhism,  namely,  the  preacher's  appeal  to 
the  people,  and  the  undying  influence  of  his  own  beautiful  life. 

Buddhism  never  drove  Brahmanism  out  of  India.  The  two 
religions  lived  together  during  more  than  a  thousand  years,  from 
before  250  b.  c.  to  about  900  a.  d.  Modern  Hinduism  is  the  joint 
product  of  both.  In  certain  kingdoms  of  India,  and  at  certain 
periods,  Buddhism  prevailed.  Brahmanism  was  at  no  time  crushed ; 
and  the  Brahmans  in  the  end  claimed  Buddha  as  the  ninth  incar- 
nation of  their  own  god,  Vishnu.  The  Chinese  pilgrims  to  India 
from  400  to  630  a.  d.  found  Buddhist  monasteries  and  Brahman 
temples  side  by  side. 

In  northern  India,  for  example,  a  famous  Buddhist  king, 
Siladitya,  ruled  at  the  latter  date.  He  seems  to  have  been  an  Asoka 
of  the  seventh  century  a.  d.  ;  and  he  strictly  carried  out  the  two  great 
Buddhist  duties  of  charity  and  spreading  the  faith.  He  tried  to 
extend  Buddhism  by  means  of  a  general  council  in  634  a.  d. 
Twenty-one  tributary  sovereigns  attended,  together  with  the  most 
learned  Buddhist  monks  and  Brahmans  of  their  kingdoms.  The 
object  of  the  council  was  not  merely  to  assert  the  Buddhist  faith. 
It  dealt  with  the  two  religions  of  India  at  that  time.  First,  a  dis- 
cussion took  place  between  the  Buddhists  and  the  Brahmans; 
second,  a  dispute  between  the  two  Buddhist  sects  who  followed 
respectively  the  northern  scriptures  or  canon  of  Kanishka  and  the 
southern  scriptures  or  canon  of  Asoka.  The  rites  of  the  populace 
were  as  mixed  as  the  doctrines  of  their  teachers.  On  the  first  day 
of  the  council,  a  statue  of  Buddha  was  installed  with  great  pomp; 
on  the  second,  an  image  of  the  Brahman  sun-god;  on  the  third,  an 
idol  of  the  Hindu  Siva. 

Siladitya  held  a  solemn  distribution  of  his  royal  treasures 
every  five  years.  The  Chinese  pilgrim  Hiuen  Tsiang,  an  account 
of  whose  travels  is  translated  in  Beal's  "  Si-yu-ki,  or  Buddhist 
Records  of  the  Western  World,"  describes  how,  on  the  plain 
where  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna  unite  their  waters,  near  Al- 


64  INDIA 

543  B.  C.-1000  A.  D. 

lahabad,  all  the  kings  of  the  empire,  and  a  multitude  of  people, 
were  feasted  for  seventy-five  days.  Siladitya  brought  forth  the 
stores  of  his  palace,  and  gave  them  away  to  Brahmans  and 
Buddhists,  monks  and  heretics,  without  distinction.  At  the  end 
of  the  festival  he  stripped  off  his  jewels  and  royal  raiment, 
handed  them  to  the  bystanders,  and,  like  Buddha  of  old,  put  on  the 
rags  of  a  beggar.  By  this  ceremony  the  king  commemorated  the 
great  renunciation  of  Buddha,  and  also  practiced  the  highest  duty 
laid  down  by  the  Brahmans,  namely,  almsgiving. 

The  vast  Buddhist  monastery  of  Nalanda,  near  Gaya,  formed 
a  seat  of  learning  which  recalls  the  Christian  abbeys  and  universities 
of  mediaeval  Europe.  Ten  thousand  monks  and  novices  of  the 
eighteen  Buddhist  schools  here  studied  theology,  philosophy,  law, 
science,  especially  medicine,  and  practiced  their  devotions.  They 
lived  in  learned  ease,  fed  by  the  royal  bounty.  Even  this  stronghold 
of  Buddhism  is  a  proof  that  Buddhism  was  only  one  of  two  hostile 
creeds  in  India.  During  one  short  period,  about  640  a.  d.,  it  was 
three  times  destroyed  by  the  enemies  of  the  Buddhist  faith. 

Between  700  and  900  a.  d.  there  arose  various  great  reformers 
of  the  Brahman  faith.  After  800  a.  d.  Brahmanism  gradually 
became  the  ruling  religion.  Legends  dimly  tell  of  persecutions 
stirred  up  by  Brahman  reformers.  Although  there  were  severe 
local  persecutions  of  Buddhists,  the  downfall  of  Buddhism  seems 
to  have  resulted  partly  from  its  own  decay,  and  partly  from  new 
movements  of  religious  thought,  rather  than  from  any  general 
suppression  by  the  sword.  In  the  tenth  century,  only  outlying 
states,  such  as  Kashmir  and  Orissa,  remained  faithful ;  and  before 
the  Mohammedans  fairly  came  upon  the  scene,  Buddhism  as  a 
popular  faith  had  almost  disappeared  from  India. 

During  the  last  thousand  years  Buddhism  has  been  a  banished 
religion  from  its  native  Indian  home,  but  it  has  won  greater  tri- 
umphs in  its  exile  than  it  could  have  ever  achieved  in  the  land  of 
its  birth.  It  created  a  literature  and  a  religion  for  nearly  one-half 
of  the  human  race;  and  it  is  supposed,  by  its  influence  on  early 
Christianity,  to  have  affected  the  beliefs  of  a  large  part  of  the  other 
half.  Five  hundred  millions  of  men,  or  forty  per  cent,  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  world,  still  follow  the  teaching  of  Buddha. 
Afghanistan,  Nepal,  Eastern  Turkestan,  Tibet,  Mongolia,  Man- 
churia, China,  Japan,  the  Eastern  Archipelago,  Siam,  Burma,  Cey- 
lon, and  India,  at  one  time  or  another  marked  the  magnificent  circle 


•*1  * 


t>  s 


*■    o 

H 


BUDDHISM  65 

543   B.  C.-1000  A.  D. 

of  its  conquests.  Its  shrines  and  monasteries  stretched  from  what 
are  now  provinces  of  the  Russian  empire,  to  Japan  and  the  islands 
of  the  Malay  Sea.  During  twenty-four  centuries  Buddhism  has 
encountered  and  outlived  a  series  of  rival  faiths.  At  this  day  it 
forms,  with  Christianity  and  Islam,  one  of  the  three  great  religions 
of  the  world. 

Even  in  India  Buddhism  did  not  altogether  die.  Many  of  its 
doctrines  still  live  in  Hinduism.  It  also  left  behind  a  special  sect, 
the  Jains,  who  number  about  one  and  a  half  millions  in  India.  Like 
the  Buddhists,  they  deny  the  authority  of  the  Veda,  except  in  so 
far  as  it  agrees  with  their  own  tenets ;  disregard  sacrifice ;  practice 
a  strict  morality;  believe  that  their  past  and  future  states  depend 
upon  their  own  actions  rather  than  on  any  external  deity;  and 
refuse  to  kill  either  man  or  beast.  The  Jains  divide  time  into  three 
eras;  and  adore  twenty-four  jinas,  or  just  men.  made  perfect,  in 
the  past  age,  twenty-four  in  the  present,  and  twenty-four  in  the 
era  to  come.  The  colossal  statues  of  this  great  company  of  saints 
stand  in  their  temples.  They  choose  wooded  mountains  and  the 
most  lovely  retreats  of  nature  for  their  places  of  pilgrimage,  and 
cover  them  with  exquisitely  carved  shrines  in  white  marble  or  daz- 
zling stucco.  The  Jains  of  India  are  usually  merchants  or  bankers. 
Their  charity  is  boundless;  and  they  form  the  chief  supporters  of 
the  beast  hospitals,  which  the  old  Buddhistic  tenderness  for  animals 
has  left  in  many  of  the  cities  of  India.  They  claim,  not  without 
evidence,  that  the  Jain  religion  is  even  older  than  Buddhism;  and 
that  the  teaching  of  Buddha  was  based  on  the  Jain  faith. 

Buddhism  is  still  the  religion  of  Burma,  and  has  there  over 
nine  millions  of  followers,  or  nine-tenths  of  the  population.  The 
Buddhist  monasteries  have  from  ancient  times  been  schools  for  the 
young  as  well  as  religious  houses  for  the  monks;  and  they  now 
form  the  basis  of  the  British  system  of  public  instruction  through- 
out Burma.  In  all  the  rest  of  British  India  there  are  only  about 
227,000  pure  Buddhists,  chiefly  in  the  Bengal  districts  adjacent 
to  Burma,  and  in  the  remote  valleys  of  the  Himalayan  ranges. 
From  time  to  time  Buddhism  seems  to  take  a  new  start  in  Lower 
Bengal,  and  Buddhist  journals  are  published  in  Calcutta  and  else- 
where. The-  Jain  faith,  an  allied  religion  to  Indian  Buddhism, 
has  been  described  in  the  last  paragraph.  The  noblest  survivals  of 
Buddhism  in  India  are  to  be  found  not  among  any  peculiar  body, 
but  in  the  religion  of  the  whole  Hindu  people;  in  that  principle  of 


66  INDIA 

543  B.  C.-1000  A.  D. 

the  brotherhood  of  man,  with  the  reassertion  of  which  each  new 
revival  of  Hinduism  starts;  in  the  asylum  which  the  great  Hindu 
sect  of  Vaishnavas  affords  to  women  who  have  fallen  victims  to 
caste  rules,  to  the  widow  and  the  outcast;  in  that  gentleness  and 
charity  to  all  men,  which  take  the  place  of  a  poor-law  in  India,  and 
give  a  high  significance  to  the  half-satirical  epithet  of  the  "  mild  " 
Hindu. 


Chapter  VI 

THE  GREEKS  IN  INDIA.    327-161  B.  C. 

THE  external  history  of  India  commences  with  the  Greek 
invasion  in  327  b.  c.  Some  indirect  trade  between  India 
and  the  Mediterranean  seems  to  have  existed  from  very- 
ancient  times.  Homer  was  acquainted  with  tin,  and  other  articles 
of  Indian  merchandise,  by  their  Sanskrit  names;  and  a  long  list 
has  been  made  of  Indian  products  mentioned  in  the  Hebrew  Bible. 
The  first  Greek  historian  who  speaks  clearly  of  India  is  Hekataios  of 
Miletos  (549-486  b.  c.)  ;  the  knowledge  of  Herodotos  (450  b.  c.) 
ended  at  the  Indus;  and  Ktesias,  the  physician  (401  b.  a),  brought 
back  from  his  residence  in  Persia  only  a  few  facts  about  the  pro- 
ducts of  India,  its  dyes  and  fabrics,  monkeys  and  parrots.  India  to 
the  east  of  the  Indus  was  first  made  known  to  Europe  by  the  his- 
torians and  men  of  science  who  accompanied  Alexander  the  Great, 
king  of  Macedon. 

Alexander  the  Great  entered  India  early  in  327  b.  c.  ;  crossed 
the  Indus  above  Attock,  and  advanced,  without  a  struggle,  over  the 
intervening  territory  of  Taxiles  to  the  Hydaspes,  the  modern 
Jehlam.  He  found  the  Punjab  divided  into  petty  kingdoms  jealous 
of  each  other,  and  many  of  them  inclined  to  join  an  invader  rather 
than  to  oppose  him.  One  of  these  local  monarchs,  Porus,  disputed 
the  passage  of  the  Jehlam  with  a  force  which,  substituting  chariots 
for  guns,  about  equaled  the  army  of  Ranjit  Singh,  the  ruler  of  the 
Punjab  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Plutarch  gives  a  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  the  battle  from  Alexander's  own  letters.  Having  drawn  up 
his  troops  at  a  bend  of  the  Jehlam,  about  14  miles  west  of  the 
modern  field  of  Chilianwala,  the  Greek  king  crossed  under  shelter 
of  a  tempestuous  night.  The  chariots  hurried  out  by  Porus  stuck 
in  the  muddy  bank  of  the  river.  In  the  engagement  which  fol- 
lowed, the  elephants  of  the  Indian  prince  refused  to  face  the  Greeks, 
and,  wheeling  round,  trampled  Porus'  own  army  under  foot.  His 
son  fell  early  in  the  onset;  Porus  himself  fled  wounded;  but  on 
tendering  his  submission,  he  was  confirmed  in  his  kingdom,  and 

67 


68 


INDIA 


327-326   B.  C. 

became  Alexander's  trusted  friend.  Alexander  built  two  memorial 
cities  on  the  site  of  his  victory — Bucephala,  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Jehlam,  near  the  modern  Jalalpur,  named  after  his  beloved  charger 
slain  in  the  battle ;  and  Nikaia,  the  present  Mong,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river. 

Alexander  advanced  southeast  through  the  kingdom  of  the 
younger  Porus  to  Amritsar,  and,  after  a  sharp  bend  backward  to 
the  west  to  fight  the  Kathaei  at  Sangala,  he  reached  the  Hyphasis, 
the  modern  Beas.  Here,  at  a  spot  not  far  from  the  modern  battle- 
field of  Sobraon,  he  halted  his  victorious  standards.  He  had  re- 
solved to  march  to  the  Ganges;  but  his  troops  were  worn  out  by 
the  heats  of  the  Punjab  summer,  and  broken  in  spirit  by  the  hur- 


ricanes of  the  southwest  monsoon.  The  native  tribes  had  already 
risen  in  his  rear;  and  the  conqueror  of  the  world  was  forced  to 
turn  back  before  he  had  crossed  even  the  frontier  province  of 
India.  The  Sutlej,  the  eastern  districts  of  the  Punjab,  and  the 
mighty  Jumna  still  lay  between  him  and  the  Ganges.  A  single 
defeat  might  have  been  fatal  to  his  army;  if  the  battle  on  the 
Jehlam  had  gone  against  him,  not  a  Greek  would  probably  have 
reached  the  Afghan  side  of  the  passes.  Yielding  at  length  to  the 
clamor  of  his  men,  he  led  them  back  to  the  Jehlam.  He  there 
embarked  8000  of  his  troops  in  boats,  and  floated  them  down  the 
river  through  the  southern  Punjab  to  Sind;  the  remainder  of  his 
army  marched  in  two  divisions  along  the  banks. 

The  country  was  hostile,  and  the  Greeks  held  only  the  land 


THEGREEKS  69 

326-316    B.  C. 

on  which  they  encamped.  At  Multan,  then  as  now  the  capital  of  the 
southern  Punjab,  Alexander  had  to  fight  a  pitched  battle  with  the 
Malli,  and  was  severely  wounded  in  taking  the  city.  His  enraged 
troops  put  every  soul  within  it  to  the  sword.  Farther  down,  near 
the  confluence  of  the  five  rivers  of  the  Punjab,  he  made  a  long  halt, 
built  a  town,  Alexandria,  the  modern  Uchh,  and  received  the  sub- 
mission of  the  neighboring  states.  A  Greek  garrison  and  satrap, 
whom  he  here  left  behind,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  lasting  Greek 
influence.  Having  constructed  a  new  fleet,  suitable  for  the  greater 
rivers  on  which  he  was  now  to  embark,  Alexander  proceeded  south- 
ward through  Sind,  and  followed  the  course  of  the  Indus  until  he 
reached  the  ocean.  In  the  apex  of  the  delta,  he  founded  or  re- 
founded  a  city,  Patala,  which  survives  to  this  day  as  Haidarabad, 
the  native  capital  of  Sind.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Indus,  Alexander 
beheld  for  the  first  time  the  majestic  phenomenon  of  the  tides.  One 
part  of  his  army  he  shipped  off  under  the  command  of  Nearchus 
to  coast  along  the  Persian  Gulf;  the  remainder  he  himself  led 
through  southern  Baluchistan  and  Persia  to  Susa,  where,  after 
terrible  losses  from  want  of  water  and  famine  on  the  march,  he 
arrived  in  325  b.  c. 

During  his  two  years'  campaign  in  the  Punjab  and  Sind, 
Alexander  subjugated  no  province ;  but  he  made  alliances,  founded 
cities,  and  planted  Greek  garrisons.  He  had  given  much  territory 
to  Indian  chiefs  devoted  to  his  cause ;  every  petty  Indian  court  had 
its  Greek  faction;  and  the  troops  which  he  left  behind  at  many 
points,  from  the  Afghan  frontier  on  the  west  to  the  Beas  River  on 
the  east,  and  as  far  south  as  the  Sind  delta,  seemed  visible  pledges 
of  his  return.  A  large  part  of  his  army  remained  in  Bactria;  and 
in  the  partition  of  the  empire  after  Alexander's  death  in  323  b.  c, 
Bactria  and  India  fell  to  Seleucus  Nicator,  the  founder  of  the 
Syrian  monarchy. 

Meanwhile  a  new  power  had  arisen  in  India.  Among  the 
Indian  adventurers  who  thronged  Alexander's  camp  in  the  Punjab, 
each  with  his  plot  for  winning  a  kingdom  or  crushing  a  rival, 
Chandra  Gupta,  an  exile  from  the  Gangetic  valley,  seems  to  have 
played  a  somewhat  ignominious  part.  He  tried  to  tempt  the 
wearied  Greeks  on  the  banks  of  the  Beas  with  schemes  of  conquest 
in  the  rich  provinces  of  Hindustan  to  the  southeast;  but,  having 
personally  offended  Alexander,  he  had  to  fly  the  camp  in  326  b.  c. 
In  the  confused  years  which  followed,  he  managed,  with  the  aid 


70  INDIA 

316-298   B.  C. 

of  plundering  hordes,  to  found  a  kingdom  on  the  ruins  of  the 
Nanda  dynasty  in  Magadha,  or  Behar  (316  b.  a).  He  seized 
their  capital,  Pataliputra,  the  modern  Patna;  established  himself 
firmly  in  the  Gangetic  valley,  and  compelled  the  northwestern 
principalities,  Greek  garrisons  and  Indian  princes  alike,  to  acknowl- 
edge his  sovereignty.  While  the  Greek  general  Seleucus  was  win- 
ning his  way  to  the  Syrian  monarchy  during  the  eleven  years  which 
followed  Alexander's  death,  Chandra  Gupta  was  building  up  an 
empire  in  northern  India.  Seleucus  reigned  in  Syria  from  312  to 
280  b.  c. ;  Chandra  Gupta  in  the  Gangetic  valley  from  316  to  292 
b.  c.  In  312  b.  c.  these  two  monarchs  advanced  their  kingdoms 
to  each  other's  frontier;  they  had  to  decide  whether  they  were  to 
live  in  peace  or  at  war.  Seleucus  in  the  end  sold  the  Greek  con- 
quests in  the  Kabul  Valley  and  the  Punjab  to  Chandra  Gupta,  and 
gave  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  the  Indian  king.  He  also  sta- 
tioned a  Greek  ambassador  at  Chandra  Gupta's  court  from  306 
to  298  b.  c. 

This  ambassador  was  the  famous  Megasthenes.  His  descrip- 
tion of  India  is  perhaps  the  best  that  reached  Europe  during  two 
thousand  years,  from  300  b.  c.  to  1700  a.  d.  He  says  that  the 
people  were  divided  into  seven  castes  instead  of  four — namely, 
philosophers,  husbandmen,  shepherds,  artisans,  soldiers,  inspectors, 
and  the  counselors  of  the  king.  The  philosophers  were  the  Brah- 
mans,  and  the  prescribed  stages  of  their  religious  life  are  indicated. 
Megasthenes  draws  a  distinction  between  the  Brahmans  or  Brach- 
manes  and  the  Sramanas  or  Sarmanai,  from  which  some  scholars 
infer  that  the  Buddhist  Sramanas  or  monks  were  a  recognized 
order  fifty  years  before  the  Council  of  Asoka.  But  the  Sarmanai 
of  Megasthenes  probably  also  include  Brahmans  in  the  first  and 
third  stages  of  their  life,  as  students  and  forest  recluses.  The 
inspectors,  or  sixth  class  of  Megasthenes,  have  been  identified  with 
the  Buddhist  supervisors  of  morals.  Arrian's  name  for  them, 
episkopoi,  is  the  Greek  word  which  has  become  our  modern  bishop 
or  overseer  of  souls. 

The  Greek  ambassador  observed  with  admiration  the  absence 
of  slavery  in  India,  the  chastity  of  the  women,  and  the  courage  of 
the  men.  In  valor,  he  says,  they  excelled  all  other  Asiatics;  they 
required  no  locks  to  their  doors;  above  all,  no  Indian  was  ever 
known  to  tell  a  lie.  Sober  and  industrious,  good  farmers,  and 
skillful  artisans,  they  scarcely  ever  had  recourse  to  a  lawsuit,  and 


THE     GREEKS  71 

298-161    B.  C. 

lived  peaceably  under  their  native  chiefs.  The  kingly  government 
is  portrayed  almost  as  described  in  the  Code  of  Manu.  Megasthenes 
mentions  that  India  was  divided  into  118  kingdoms;  some  of  which, 
as  the  Prasii,  under  Chandra  Gupta,  exercised  suzerain  powers  over 
other  kings  or  dependent  princes.  The  Indian  village  system  is 
well  described,  each  of  the  village  communities  seeming  to  the 
Greek  an  independent  republic.  Megasthenes  remarked  the  ex- 
emption of  the  husbandmen  (Vaisyas)  from  war  and  public  serv- 
ices ;  and  enumerates  the  dyes,  fibers,  fabrics,  and  products  animal, 
vegetable,  and  mineral,  of  India.  Husbandry  then  as  now  depended 
on  the  periodical  rains;  and  forecasts  of  the  weather,  with  a  view 
to  "  make  adequate  provision  against  a  coming  deficiency,"  formed 
a  special  duty  of  the  Brahmans.  "  The  philosopher,"  he  says, 
"  who  errs  in  his  predictions  observes  silence  for  the  rest  of  his  life." 
After  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  the  Greeks  made  no 
important  conquests  in  India.  Antiochus  II.,  the  grandson  of 
Seleucus,  entered  into  a  treaty  with  the  famous  Buddhist  king, 
Asoka,  the  grandson  of  Chandra  Gupta,  in  256  b.  c.  The  Greeks 
afterward  founded  a  powerful  independent  kingdom  in  Bactria,  to 
the  northwest  of  the  Himalayas.  During  the  hundred  years  after  the 
Indo-Greek  treaty  of  256  b.  c.  the  Greco-Bactrian  kings  sent  invad- 
ing hosts  into  the  Punjab ;  some  of  whom  reached  eastward  as  far  as 
Muttra,  or  even  Oudh,  and  southward  to  Sind  and  Cutch,  between 
181  and  161  b.  c,  but  they  founded  no  kingdoms;  and  the  only 
traces  which  the  Greeks  left  in  India  were  their  science  of  as- 
tronomy, their  beautiful  sculptures,  and  their  coins.  Some  of  the 
early  Buddhist  statues,  after  250  b.  c,  have  exquisite  Greek  faces ; 
and  the  same  type  is  preserved  in  the  most  ancient  carvings  on  the 
Hindu  temples.  By  degrees  even  this  trace  of  Greek  influence  faded 
away ;  but  specimens  of  Indo-Greek  sculptures  may  still  be  found  in 
the  museums  of  India. 


Chapter  VII 

THE  SCYTHIC  INROADS,     ioo  B.  C.-725  A.  D. 

THE  Greek  or  Bactrian  expeditions  into  India  ended  more 
than  a  century  before  Christ;  but  a  new  set  of  invaders 
soon  began  to  pour  into  India  from  the  north.  These 
came  from  central  Asia,  and,  for  want  of  a  more  exact  name, 
have  been  called  the  Scythians.  They  belonged  to  many  tribes, 
and  they  form  a  connecting  link  between  Indian  and  Chinese  his- 
tory. As  the  Aryan  race  in  the  west  of  Asia  had,  perhaps  3000 
years  before  Christ,  sent  off  branches  to  Europe  on  the  one  hand, 
and  to  India  on  the  other,  so  the  Scythians,  who  dwelt  to  the  east 
of  the  old  Aryan  camping-ground  in  Asia,  swarmed  forth  into 
India  and  to  China.  There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  the  great 
Scythic  migration  at  the  close  of  the  seventh  century  b.  c,  which 
ruined  the  Assyrian  empire,  sent  an  offshoot  into  India;  and  some 
writers  have  found  reason  to  believe  that  Buddha  was  a  descendant 
of  such  a  Scythian  tribe.  Certainly  the  northern  Buddhists  fre- 
quently call  Buddha,  Sakya-Muni.  That  Sakya  is  equivalent  to 
Scythian  is  possible,  but  is  not  proven.  Certainly  the  northern  Bud- 
dhists would  not  be  loath  to  ascribe  a  Scythian  origin  to  Buddha. 
These  Scythic  inroads  went  on  during  a  great  period  of  time,  but 
they  took  place  in  very  great  force  during  the  century  preceding 
the  birth  of  Christ.  They  were  the  forerunners  of  a  long  series 
of  invasions  which  devastated  northern  India  more  than  a  thousand 
years  later,  under  such  leaders  as  Genghis  Khan  and  Timur,  and 
which  in  the  end  founded  the  Mogul  empire. 

About  the  year  126  b.  c,  the  Tatar  or  Scythian  tribe  of  Su 
are  said  to  have  driven  out  the  Greek  dynasty  from  the  Bactrian 
kingdom,  on  the  northwest  of  the  Himalayas.  Soon  afterward  the 
Scythians  rushed  through  the  Himalayan  passes  and  conquered 
the  Greco-Bactrian  settlements  in  the  Punjab.  About  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  era  they  had  founded  a  strong  monarchy  in 
northern  India  and  in  the  countries  just  beyond.  Their  most 
famous  king  was  Kanishka,  who  summoned  the  Fourth  Buddhist 

73 


SCYTHIC     INROADS  73 

100-57  B.  C. 

Council  about  40  a.  d.  King-  Kanishka  held  his  court  in  Kashmir ; 
but  his  suzerainty  extended  from  Agra  and  Sind  in  the  south,  to 
Yarkland  and  Khokand  on  the  north  of  the  Himalayas.  He  seems 
to  have  carried  on  successful  wars  as  far  as  China.  Six  hundred 
years  afterward,  in  630  a.  d.,  a  town  called  China-pati  in  the 
Punjab  was  pointed  out  as  the  place  where  King  Kanishka  kept 
his  Chinese  hostages.  The  Scythian  monarchies  of  northern  India 
came  in  contact  with  the  Buddhist  kingdom  under  the  successors 
of  Asoka  in  Hindustan.  The  Scythians  themselves  became  Bud- 
dhists ;  but  they  made  changes  in  that  faith.  The  result  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  that  while  the  countries  to  the  south  of  India  had 
adopted  the  Buddhist  religion  as  settled  by  Asoka's  Council  in 
244  b.  C.j  the  Buddhist  religion  as  settled  by  Kanishka's  Council  in 
40  a.  d.  became  the  faith  of  the  Scythian  nations  to  the  north  of 
India,  from  central  Asia  to  Japan. 

Kanishka  was  the  most  famous  of  the  Scythian  kings  in  India, 
but  there  were  many  other  Scythian  settlements.  Indeed,  the 
Scythians  are  believed  to  have  poured  into  India  in  such  numbers 
as  to  make  up  a  large  proportion  of  the  population  in  the  north- 
western frontier  provinces  at  the  present  day.  For  example,  two 
old  Scythian  tribes,  the  Getse  and  the  Dahse,  are  said  to  have  dwelt 
side  by  side  in  central  Asia,  and  perhaps  advanced  together  into 
India.  Some  writers  hold  that  the  Jats,  who  form  nearly  one-half 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Punjab,  are  descended  from  these  ancient 
Getae;  and  that  a  great  subdivision  of  the  Jats,  called  the  Dhe,  in 
like  manner  sprang  from  the  Dahae.  Other  scholars  try  to  show 
that  certain  of  the  Rajput  tribes  are  of  Scythian  origin.  However 
this  may  be,  it  is  clear  that  many  Scythian  inroads  into  India  took 
place  from  the  first  century  b.  c.  to  the  fifth  century  a.  d. 

During  that  long  period  several  Indian  monarchs  won  fame 
by  attempting  to  drive  out  the  Scythians.  The  best  known  of  these 
is  Vikramaditya,  king  of  Ujjain  in  Malwa,  in  honor  of  whose 
victories  one  of  the  great  eras  in  India,  or  systems  of  reckoning 
historical  dates,  is  supposed  to  have  been  founded.  It  is  called  the 
Samvat  era,  and  begins  in  57  b.  c.  Its  reputed  founder  is  still 
known  as  Vikramaditya  Sakari,  or  Vikramaditya  the  enemy  of  the 
Scythians.  According  to  the  Indian  tradition,  he  was  a  learned 
as  well  as  a  valiant  monarch,  and  he  gathered  round  him  the  poets 
and  philosophers  of  his  time.  The  chief  of  these  were  called  "  the 
nine  jewels  "   of  the  court  of  Vikramaditya.      They   became   so 


74  INDIA 

57  B.  C.-725  A.  D. 

famous  that  in  after  times  a  great  many  of  the  best  Sanskrit  poems 
or  dramas,  and  works  of  philosophy  or  science,  were  ascribed  to 
them ;  although  the  style  and  contents  of  the  works  prove  that  they 
must  have  been  written  at  widely  different  periods.  The  truth  is 
that  the  name  Vikramaditya  is  merely  a  royal  title,  meaning  "  a 
very  sun  in  prowess,"  which  has  been  borne  by  several  kings  in 
Indian  history,  but  the  Vikramaditya  of  the  first  century  before 
Christ  was  the  most  famous  of  them  all — famous  alike  as  a  defender 
of  his  country  against  the  Scythian  hordes,  as  a  patron  of  men  of 
learning,  and  as  a  good  ruler  of  his  subjects. 

About  a  hundred  years  later,  another  valiant  Indian  king  arose 
against  the  Scythians.  His  name  was  Salivahana ;  and  a  new  era, 
called  the  Saka  or  Scythian,  was  founded  in  his  honor  in  78  a.  d. 
These  two  eras — the  Samvat,  beginning  in  57  b.  a,  and  the  Saka, 
commencing  in  78  a.  d. — still  form  two  well-known  systems  of 
reckoning  historical  dates  in  India. 

During  the  next  five  centuries,  three  great  Indian  dynasties 
maintained  the  struggle  against  the  Scythians.  The  Sah  kings 
reigned  in  the  northwest  of  the  Bombay  presidency  from  60  b.  c. 
to  235  a.  d.  The  Gupta  kings  reigned  in  Oudh  and  northern  India 
from  319  to  470  a.  d.,  when  they  seem  to  have  been  overpowered 
by  fresh  hosts  of  Huns  or  Scythians.  The  Valabhi  kings  ruled  over 
Cutch,  Malwa,  and  the  northwestern  districts  of  Bombay  from  480 
to  after  722  a.  d.  The  Greek  traders  in  the  Red  Sea  heard  of  the 
Huns  as  a  powerful  nation  of  northern  India  about  535  a.  d.  The 
Chinese  pilgrim,  Hiuen  Tsiang,  gives  a  full  account  of  the  court 
and  people  of  Valabhi  from  630  to  640  a.  d.  His  description  shows 
that  Buddhism  was  the  state  religion;  but  heretics  (i.  e.,  Brahmans) 
abounded;  and  the  Buddhists  themselves  were  divided  between 
the  northern  school  of  the  Scythian  dynasties,  and  the  southern 
or  Indian  school  of  Asoka.  The  Valabhi  dynasty  seems  to  have 
been  overthrown  by  the  earlv  Arab  invaders  of  Sind  in  the  eighth 
century  a.  d.1 

1  For  fuller  details  on  the  Scythian  inroads  and  for  full  biographical  refer- 
ences, see  the  corresponding  chapter  in  W.  W.  Hunter's  "  Imperial  Gazeteer," 
vol.  VI.,  or  his  "  Indian  Empire,"  which  the  author  says  "  has  been  pieced  together 
from  the  unfinished  researches  of  the  Archaeological  Survey  and  from  local 
investigations." 


Chapter  VIII 

GROWTH    OF    HINDUISM.     700-1500 

WE  have  now  got  a  view  of  the  three  races  which  make  up 
the  Indian  people.  These  were,  first,  the  non-Aryans, 
or  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  the  country,  sometimes 
called  the  aborigines.  Second,  the  Aryan  race,  who  came  to  India 
from  central  Asia  in  prehistoric  times.  Third,  the  Scythians  or 
Tatars,  who  had  also  begun  to  move  into  India  before  the  dawn  of 
history,  and  whose  later  hordes  came  in  great  force  between  the 
first  century  b.  c.  and  the  fifth  century  after  Christ.  Each  of  these 
races  had  their  own  customs,  their  own  religion,  and  their  own 
speech. 

The  non-Aryans  were  hunting  tribes.  In  their  family  life, 
some  of  them  kept  up  the  early  form  of  marriage,  according  to 
which  a  woman  was  the  wife  of  several  brethren,  and  a  man's 
property  descended,  not  to  his  own,  but  to  his  sister's  children.  In 
their  religion,  the  non-Aryans  worshiped  demons,  and  tried  by 
bloody  sacrifices  or  human  victims,  to  avert  the  wrath  of  the  malig- 
nant spirits  whom  they  called  gods. 

The  Aryans  early  advanced  beyond  the  rude  existence  of  the 
hunter  to  the  semi-settled  industry  of  the  cattle-breeder  and  tiller 
of  the  soil.  In  their  family  life  a  woman  had  only  one  husband, 
and  their  customs  and  laws  of  inheritance  were  nearly  the  same 
as  those  which  now  prevail  in  India.  In  their  religion  they  wor- 
shiped bright  and  friendly  gods. 

The  third  race,  or  the  Scythians,  held  a  position  between  the 
other  two.  The  early  Scythians,  indeed,  who  arrived  in  prehistoric 
times,  may  have  been  as  wild  as  the  non-Aryans,  and  they  probably 
supplied  a  section  of  what  we  call  the  aborigines  of  India,  but  the 
Scythian  hordes,  who  poured  into  India  from  126  b.  c.  to  400  a.  d., 
were  neither  hunters  like  the  Indian  non- Aryan  tribes,  nor  half- 
cultivators  like  the  Aryans.  They  were  shepherds  or  herdsmen, 
who  roamed  across  the  plains  of  central  Asia  with  their  cattle,  and 
whose  one  talent  was  for  war. 

The  Aryans  supplied,  therefore,  the  civilizing  power  in  India. 

75 


76  INDIA 

700-1500 

One  of  their  divisions  or  castes,  the  Vaisyas,  brought  the  soil  under 
the  plow;  another  caste,  the  Kshattriyas,  conquered  the  rude  non- 
Aryan  peoples;  their  third  caste,  the  Brahmans,  created  a  religion 
and  a  literature.  The  early  Brahman  religion  made  no  account  of 
the  lower  races;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  about  500  b.  c.  a  wider  creed, 
called  the  Buddhist,  was  based  upon  it.  This  new  faith  did  much 
to  bring  the  early  non-Aryan  tribes  under  the  influence  of  the  higher 
Aryan  race,  and  it  was  accepted  by  the  later  Scythian  hordes  who 
came  into  India  from  126  b.  c.  to  400  a.  d.  Buddhism  was  there- 
fore the  first  great  bond  of  union  among  the  Indian  races.  It  did 
something  to  combine  the  non-Aryans,  the  Aryans,  and  the  Scyth- 
ians into  a  people  with  similar  customs  and  a  common  faith,  but 
it  was  driven  out  of  India  before  it  finished  its  work. 

The  work  was  continued  by  the  Brahmans.  This  ancient  caste, 
which  had  held  a  high  place  even  during  the  triumph  of  the  Bud- 
dhist religion,  became  all-powerful  upon  the  decay  of  that  faith. 
Hiuen  Tsiang,  the  Chinese  pilgrim  to  India  in  640  A.  d.,  relates 
how  the  Brahmans,  or,  as  he  calls  them,  the  heretics,  were  again 
establishing  their  power.  The  Buddhist  monasteries  had,  even  at 
that  time,  a  struggle  to  hold  their  own  against  the  Brahman  tem- 
ples. During  the  next  two  centuries  the  Brahmans  gradually 
got  the  upper  hand.  The  conflict  between  the  two  religions 
brought  forth  a  great  line  of  Brahman  apostles,  some  of  whose 
lives  are  almost  as  beautiful  as  that  of  Buddha  himself.  The  first 
of  these,  Kumarila,  a  holy  Brahman  of  Behar,  began  his  preach- 
ing in  the  eighth  century  a.  d.  He  taught  the  old  Vedic  doctrine 
of  a  personal  Creator  and  God.  The  Buddhists  had  no  personal 
God.  According  to  a  later  legend,  Kumarila  not  only  preached 
against  the  Buddhists,  but  persuaded  a  king  of  southern  India  to 
persecute  them.  This  prince,  it  is  said,  "  commanded  his  servants 
to  put  to  death  the  old  men  and  the  young  children  of  the  Bud- 
dhists, from  the  southernmost  point  of  India  to  the  Snowy  Moun- 
tain. Let  him  who  slays  not,  be  slain."  At  that  time,  however, 
there  was  no  king  in  India  whose  power  to  persecute  reached  from 
the  Himalayas  to  Cape  Comorin.  The  story  is  probably  an  ex- 
aggerated account  of  a  local  persecution  by  one  of  the  many  princes 
of  southern  India.  The  Brahmans  gained  the  victory  partly  be- 
cause Buddhism  was  itself  decaying,  and  partly  because  they  of- 
fered a  new  bond  of  union  to  the  Indian  races.  This  new  bond  of 
union  was  Hinduism. 


HINDUISM  77 

700-1500 

Hinduism  is  a  social  league  and  a  religious  alliance.  As  a 
social  league,  it  rests  upon  caste,  and  has  its  roots  deep  down  in 
the  race  elements  of  the  Indian  people.  As  a  religious  alliance, 
it  represents  the  union  of  the  Vedic  faith  of  the  Brahmans  with 
Buddhism  on  the  one  hand,  and  with  the  ruder  rites  of  the  non-Ar- 
yan peoples  on  the  other.  We  must  get  a  clear  view  of  both 
these  aspects  of  Hinduism  as  a  social  league,  and  as  a  religious 
alliance. 

As  a  social  league,  Hinduism  arranged  the  people  into  the  old 
division  of  the  "  twice-born  "  Aryan  castes,  namely  the  Brahmans, 
Kshattriyas,  Vaisyas ;  and  the  "  once-born  "  castes,  consisting  of 
the  non-Aryan  Sudras,  and  the  classes  of  mixed  descent.  This  ar- 
rangement of  the  Indian  races  remains  to  the  present  day.  The 
"  twice-born  "  castes  still  wear  the  sacred  thread,  and  claim  a  joint, 
although  an  unequal,  inheritance  in  the  holy  books  of  the  Veda. 
The  "  once-born  "  castes  are  still  denied  the  sacred  thread ;  and 
they  were  not  allowed  to  study  the  holy  books,  until  the  English 
set  up  schools  in  India  for  all  classes  of  the  people.  While  caste 
is  thus  founded  on  the  distinctions  of  race,  it  has  been  influenced 
by  two  other  systems  of  division,  namely,  the  employments  of  the 
people,  and  the  localities  in  which  they  live.  Even  in  the  oldest 
times,  the  castes  had  separate  occupations  assigned  to  them.  They 
could  be  divided  either  into  Brahmans,  Kshattriyas,  Vaisyas,  and 
Sudras;  or  into  priests,  warriors,  husbandmen,  and  serfs.  They 
are  also  divided  according  to  the  parts  of  India  in  which  they 
live.  Even  the  Brahmans  have  among  themselves  ten  distinct 
classes,  or  rather  nations.  Five  of  these  classes  or  Brahman  na- 
tions live  to  the  north  of  the  Vindhya  Mountains;  five  of  them 
live  to  the  south.  Each  of  the  ten  feels  itself  to  be  quite  apart  from 
the  rest;  and  they  have  among  themselves  no  fewer  than  1886 
subdivisions  or  separate  Brahmanical  tribes.  In  like  manner,  the 
Kshattriyas  or  Rajputs  number  590  separate  tribes  in  different 
parts  of  India. 

While,  therefore,  Indian  caste  seems  at  first  a  very  simple  ar- 
rangement of  the  people  into  four  classes,  it  is  in  reality  a  very 
complex  one,  for  its  rests  upon  three  distinct  systems  of  division; 
namely,  upon  race,  occupation,  and  geographical  position.  It  is 
very  difficult  even  to  guess  at  the  number  of  the  Indian  castes,  but 
there  are  not  fewer  than  3000  of  them  which  have  separate  names, 
and  which  regard  themselves  as  separate  classes.     The  different 


78  INDIA 

700-1500 

castes  cannot  intermarry  with  each  other,  and  most  of  them  can- 
not eat  together.  The  ordinary  rule  is  that  no  Hindu  of  good 
caste  can  touch  food  cooked  by  a  man  of  inferior  caste.  By  rights, 
too,  each  caste  should  keep  to  its  own  occupation.  Indeed,  there 
has  been  a  tendency  to  erect  every  separate  kind  of  employment  or 
handicraft  in  each  separate  province  into  a  distinct  caste.  As  a 
matter  of  practice,  the  castes  often  change  their  occupation,  and 
the  lower  ones  sometimes  raise  themselves  in  the  social  scale.  Thus 
the  Vaisya  caste  were  in  ancient  times  the  tillers  of  the  soil.  They 
have  in  most  provinces  given  up  this  toilsome  occupation,  and  the 
Vaisyas  are  now  the  great  merchants  and  bankers  of  India.  Their 
fair  skins,  intelligent  faces,  and  polite  bearing,  must  have  altered 
since  the  days  when  their  forefathers  plowed,  sowed,  and  reaped 
under  the  hot  sun.  Such  changes  of  employment  still  occur  on  a 
smaller  scale  throughout  India. 

The  system  of  caste  exercises  a  great  influence  upon  the 
industries  of  the  people.  Each  caste  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  trade- 
guild.  It  insures  the  proper  training  of  the  youth  of  its  own 
special  craft;  it  makes  rules  for  the  conduct  of  the  caste-trade; 
it  promotes  good  feeling  by  feasts  or  social  gatherings.  The 
famous  manufactures  of  mediaeval  India,  its  muslins,  silks,  cloth 
of  gold,  inlaid  weapons,  and  exquisite  work  in  precious  stones — ■ 
were  brought  to  perfection  under  the  care  of  the  castes  or  trade- 
guilds.  Such  guilds  may  still  be  found  in  full  work  in  many  parts 
of  India.  Thus,  in  the  northwestern  districts  of  the  Bombay 
presidency,  all  heads  of  artisan  families  are  ranged  under  their 
proper  trade-guild.  The  trade-guild  or  caste  prevents  undue  com- 
petition among  the  members,  and  upholds  the  interest  of  its  own 
body  in  any  dispute  arising  with  other  craftsmen. 

In  1873,  for  example,  a  number  of  the  bricklayers  in  Ahmada- 
bad  could  not  find  work.  Men  of  this  class  sometimes  added  to 
their  daily  wages  by  rising  very  early  in  the  morning,  and  work- 
ing overtime.  When  several  families  complained  that  they  could 
not  get  employment,  the  bricklayers'  guild  met,  and  decided  that 
as  there  was  not  enough  work  for  all,  no  member  should  be  al- 
lowed to  work  in  extra  hours.  In  the  same  city,  the  clothdealers 
in  1872  tried  to  cut  down  the  wages  of  the  sizers  or  men  who  dress 
the  cotton  cloth.  The  sizers'  guild  refused  to  work  at  lower  rates, 
and  remained  six  weeks  on  strike.  At  length  they  arranged  their 
dispute,  and  both  the  trade-guilds  signed  a  stamped  agreement 


HINDUISM  79 

700-1500 

fixing  the  rates  for  the  future.  Each  of  the  higher  castes  or  trade- 
guilds  in  Ahmadabad  receives  a  fee  from  young  men  on  entering 
their  business.  The  revenue  derived  from  these  fees,  and  from 
fines  upon  members  who  break  caste  rules,  is  spent  in  feasts  to  the 
brethren  of  the  guild,  and  in  helping  the  poorer  craftsmen  or 
their  orphans.  A  favorite  plan  of  raising  money  in  Surat  is  for 
the  members  of  the  trade  to  keep  a  certain  day  as  a  holiday,  and 
to  shut  up  all  their  shops  except  one.  The  right  to  keep  open 
this  one  shop  is  put  up  to  auction,  and  the  amount  bid  is  expended 
on  a  feast.  The  trade-guild  or  caste  allows  none  of  its  members 
to  starve.  It  thus  acts  as  a  mutual  insurance  society  and  takes  the 
place  of  a  poor  law  in  India.  The  severest  social  penalty  which 
can  be  inflicted  upon  a  Hindu  is  to  be  put  out  of  his  caste. 

Hinduism  is,  however,  not  only  a  social  league  resting  upon 
caste,  but  also  a  religious  alliance  based  upon  worship.  As  the 
various  race  elements  of  the  Indian  people  have  been  welded  into 
caste,  so  the  simple  old  beliefs  of  the  Veda,  the  mild  doctrines  of 
Buddha,  and  the  fierce  rites  of  the  non-Aryan  tribes,  have  been 
thrown  into  the  melting-pot,  and  poured  out  thence  as  a  mixture 
of  precious  metal  and  dross,  to  be  worked  up  into  the  complex 
worship  of  the  Hindu  gods. 

Buddhism  not  only  inspired  Hinduism  with  its  noble  spirit 
of  charity,  but  also  bequeathed  to  it  many  of  its  institutions.  The 
Hindu  monasteries  in  Orissa  in  our  own  day  recall  the  Buddhist 
convents  of  King  Siladitya  eleven  hundred  years  ago.  At  the 
present  time,  the  bankers'  guild  of  Surat  devotes  a  part  of  the  fees 
which  it  levies  on  bills  of  exchange  to  maintain  a  hospital  for  sick 
animals — a  true  survival  of  the  system  of  medical  aid  for  man  and 
beast  which  King  Asoka  founded  in  244  b.  c.  The  religious  life 
of  the  Hindu  Vishnuite  sect  is  governed  by  the  old  rules  laid  down 
by  Buddha  himself.  The  great  Bengal  scholar,  Rajendra  Lala 
Mitra,  himself  a  Vishnuite,  believed  that  the  car  festival  of  Jagan- 
nath  is  a  relic  of  a  Buddhist  procession. 

Hinduism  also  drew  much  of  its  strength,  and  many  of  its 
rites,  from  the  non-Aryan  peoples  of  India.  To  them  is  due  the 
worship  of  stumps  of  wood,  of  rude  stones,  and  of  trees,  which 
makes  up  the  religion  of  the  villagers  of  Bengal.  Each  hamlet  has 
usually  its  local  god,  which  it  adores  in  the  form  either  of  an 
unhewn  stone,  or  a  stump,  or  a  tree  marked  with  red-lead.  Some- 
times a  lump  of  clay  placed  under  a  tree  does  service  for  a  deity. 


80  INDIA 

700-1500 

Serpent- worship,  and  the  honor  paid  by  certain  sects  of  Hindus  to 
the  linga,  or  symbol  of  male  creative  energy,  may  probably  be 
traced  back  to  the  Scythian  tribes  who  came  to  India,  in  very  early 
times,  from  central  Asia. 

Hinduism  boasts  a  line  of  religious  founders  stretching  from 
about  700  a.  D.  to  the  present  day.  The  lives  of  the  mediaeval 
saints  and  their  wondrous  works  are  recorded  in  the  Bhakta-Mala, 
or  "  the  garland  of  the  faithful,"  compiled  by  Nabhaji  about  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  is  the  Acta  Sanctorum 
and  Golden  Legend  of  Hinduism.  The  same  wonders  are  not 
recorded  of  each  of  its  apostles,  but  miracles  abound  in  the  lives 
of  all.  The  greater  ones  rank  as  divine  incarnations  prophesied  of 
old.  According  to  the  Hindu  stories,  some  were  born  of  virgins; 
others  overcame  lions ;  raised  the  dead ;  their  hands  and  feet  when 
cut  off  sprouted  afresh;  prisons  were  opened  to  them;  the  sea  re- 
ceived them  and  returned  them  to  the  land  unhurt,  while  the  earth 
opened  and  swallowed  up  their  slanderers.  Their  lives  were 
marvelous,  and  the  deaths  of  the  greatest  of  them  a  solemn 
mystery. 

The  first  in  the  line  of  apostles  was  Kumarila,  a  Brahman  of 
Behar,  who  has  been  already  referred  to  as  having  stirred  up  a 
legendary  persecution  of  Buddhism  throughout  India  in  the  eighth 
century  a.  d.  His  yet  more  famous  disciple  was  Sankara  Acharya, 
with  whom  we  reach  historical  ground.  Sankara  was  born  in 
Malabar,  wandered  as  an  itinerant  preacher  over  India  as  far  as 
Kashmir,  and  died,  aged  32,  at  Kedarnath  in  the  Himalayas.  He 
molded  the  Vedanta  philosophy  of  the  Brahmans  into  its  final 
form,  and  popularized  it  into  a  national  religion.  It  is  scarcely  too 
much  to  say  that  since  his  short  life  in  the  eighth  or  ninth  century 
every  new  Hindu  sect  has  had  to  start  with  a  personal  God.  He 
addressed  himself  to  the  high-caste  philosophers  on  the  one  hand, 
and  to  the  low-caste  multitude  on  the  other.  He  left  behind,  as  the 
twofold  results  of  his  life's  work,  a  compact  Brahman  sect  and 
a  popular  religion. 

In  the  hands  of  Sankara's  followers  and  apostolic  successors, 
Siva-worship  became  one  of  the  two  chief  religions  of  India.  Siva, 
at  once  the  destroyer  and  reproducer,  represented  profound  philo- 
sophical doctrines,  and  was  early  recognized  as  being  in  a  special 
sense  the  god  of  the  Brahmans.  To  them  he  was  the  symbol  of 
death  as  merely  a  change  of  life.    On  the  other  hand,  his  terrible 


HINDUISM  81 

700-1500 

aspects,  preserved  in  his  long  list  of  names,  from  Rudra,  "  the 
roarer,"  of  the  Veda,  to  Bhima,  "  the  dread  one,"  of  the  modern 
Hindu  pantheon,  well  adapted  him  to  the  religion  of  fear  preva- 
lent among  the  ruder  non-Aryan  races.  Siva,  in  his  twofold  char- 
acter, thus  became  the  deity  alike  of  the  highest  and  of  the  lowest 
castes.  He  is  the  Maha-deva,  or  great  god  of  modern  Hinduism; 
his  wife  is  Devi,  literally  and  preeminently  "  the  goddess."  His 
symbol  of  worship  is  the  linga,  or  emblem  of  male  reproduction; 
his  sacred  beast,  the  bull,  is  connected  with  the  same  idea ;  a  trident 
tops  his  temples.  His  images  partake  of  his  double  nature.  The 
Brahmanical  conception  of  Siva  is  represented  by  his  attitude  as 
a  fair-skinned  man,  seated  in  profound  thought,  the  symbol  of  the 
fertilizing  Ganges  above  his  head,  and  the  bull  (emblem  alike 
of  procreation  and  of  Aryan  plow-tillage)  near  at  hand.  The 
wilder  non-Aryan  aspects  of  his  character  are  signified  by  his  neck- 
lace of  skulls,  his  collar  of  twining  serpents,  his  tiger-skin,  and  his 
club  with  a  human  head  at  the  end.  Siva  has  five  faces  and  four 
arms.  His  wife  Devi,  in  like  manner,  appears  in  her  Aryan  or 
Brahmanical  form  as  Uma,  "  light,"  a  gentle  goddess  and  the  type 
of  high-born  loveliness;  in  her  composite  character  as  Durga,  a 
golden-colored  woman,  beautiful  but  menacing,  riding  on  a  tiger; 
and  in  her  terrible  non-Aryan  aspects  as  Kali,  a  black  fury,  of  a 
hideous  countenance,  dripping  with  blood,  crowned  with  snakes, 
and  hung  round  with  skulls. 

The  ritual  of  Siva-worship  preserves,  in  an  even  more  strik- 
ing way,  the  traces  of  its  double  origin.  The  higher  minds  still 
adore  the  godhead  by  silent  contemplation,  as  prescribed  by  San- 
kara,  without  the  aid  of  external  rites.  The  ordinary  Brahman 
hangs  a  wreath  of  flowers  around  the  phallic  linga,  or  places  before 
it  harmless  offerings  of  rice.  The  low-castes  pour  out  the  lives  of 
countless  goats  at  the  feet  of  the  terrible  Kali,  the  wife  of  Siva; 
and  until  lately,  in  time  of  pestilence  and  famine,  tried  in  their  de- 
spair to  appease  that  relentless  goddess  by  human  blood.  During 
the  famine  of  1866,  in  a  temple  of  Kali,  a  boy  was  found  with  his 
neck  cut,  the  eyes  staring  open,  and  the  stiff  clotted  tongue  thrust 
out  between  the  teeth.  In  another  temple  at  Hugh,  a  railroad  sta- 
tion only  twenty-four  miles  from  Calcutta,  a  head  was  left  before 
the  idol,  decked  with  flowers.  Such  cases  are  true  survivals  of  the 
regular  system  of  human  sacrifices  which  we  have  seen  among  the 
non-Aryan  tribes.     They  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  old  mystic 


82  INDIA 

700-1500 

purusha-medha,  or  man-offering,  whether  real  or  symbolical,  of 
the  ancient  Aryan  faith,  but  form  a  part  of  the  non-Aryan  religion 
of  terror,  which  demands  that  the  greater  the  need,  the  greater 
shall  be  the  propitiation. 

The  thirteen  chief  sects  of  Siva-worshipers  faithfully  repre- 
sent the  composite  character  of  their  god.  The  Smarta  Brahmans, 
the  lineal  successors  of  Sankara's  disciples,  still  maintain  their  life 
of  calm  monastic  piety  in  southern  India.  The  Dandis,  or  ascetics, 
divide  their  time  between  begging  and  meditation.  Some  of  them 
adore,  without  rites,  Siva  as  the  third  person  of  the  Aryan  trinity. 
Others  practice  an  apparently  non-Aryan  ceremony  of  initiation, 
by  drawing  blood  from  the  inner  part  of  the  novice's  knee  as  an 
offering  to  the  god  in  his  more  terrible  form,  Bhairava.  The 
Dandis  follow  the  non-Aryan  custom  of  burying  their  dead,  or 
commit  the  body  to  a  sacred  stream.  The  Yogis  include  every  class 
of  devotee,  from  the  speechless  mystic,  who  by  long  suppressions 
of  the  breath  has  lost  the  consciousness  of  existence  in  an  ecstatic 
union  with  Siva,  to  the  impostor  who  pretends  that  he  can  sit 
upon  air,  and  the  juggler  who  travels  with  a  performing  goat. 
The  Sivaite  sects  descend,  through  various  gradations  of  self- 
mortification  and  abstraction,  to  the  Aghoris,  who  eat  carrion  and 
gash  their  bodies  with  knives.  The  lowest  sects  follow  non-Aryan 
rather  than  Aryan  types,  alike  as  regards  their  use  of  animal  food 
and  their  bloody  sacrifices. 

Vishnu  had  always  been  a  very  human  god,  from  the  time 
when  he  makes  his  appearance  in  the  Veda  as  a  solar  myth,  the 
"  unconquerable  preserver,"  striding  across  the  universe  in  three 
steps.  His  later  incarnations  or  avatars  made  him  the  familiar 
friend  of  man.  Of  these  incarnations,  which  vary  according  to 
tradition  from  ten  to  twenty-two  in  number,  Vishnu-worship,  with 
the  unerring  instinct  of  a  popular  religion,  chose  the  two  most 
beautiful  for  adoration.  In  his  two  human  forms  as  Rama  and 
Krishna,  the  god  Vishnu  attracted  to  himself  innumerable  loving 
legends,  Rama,  his  seventh  incarnation,  is  the  hero  of  the  Sanskrit 
epic,  the  Ramayana.  In  his  eighth  incarnation,  as  Krishna,  Vishnu 
appears  as  a  high-souled  prince  in  the  other  epic,  the  Mahabharata. 
As  Krishna,  also,  he  afterward  grew  into  the  central  figure  of 
Indian  pastoral  poetry;  was  spiritualized  into  the  supreme  god  of 
Vishnuite  Puranas;  and  now  flourishes  as  the  most  popular  deity 
of  the  Hindus.     Under  his  title  of  Jagannath,  "  the  lord  of  the 


HINDUISM  83 

700-1500 

world,"  Vishnu  is  especially  worshiped  at  Puri,1  whence  his  fame 
has  spread  through  the  civilized  world.  Nothing  can  be  more 
unjust  than  the  vulgar  story  which  associates  his  car  festival  with 
the  wholesale  self-murder  of  his  worshipers.  Vishnu  is  essentially 
a  bright  and  friendly  god,  who  asks  no  offerings  but  flowers,  and 
to  whom  the  shedding  of  blood  is  a  pollution.  The  official  records, 
and  an  accurate  examination  on  the  spot,  disprove  the  calumnies 
of  some  English  writers  on  this  subject.  Fatal  accidents  fre- 
quently happened  amid  an  excited  crowd.  Suicides  on  occasions 
have  taken  place,  but  the  stories  of  wholesale  bloodshed  at  one  time 
told  about  Jagannath,  were  merely  ignorant  libels  on  a  gentle  and 
peaceful  god,  to  whom  no  sacrifice  which  cost  the  life  even  of  a  kid 
could  be  offered.     The  Vishnu  sects  are  called  Vaishnavas. 

In  the  eleventh  century  the  Vishnuite  doctrines  were  gathered 
into  a  religious  treatise.  The  Vishnu  Purana  dates  from  about 
1045  A-  D->  and  probably  represents,  as  indeed  its  name  implies, 
"  ancient "  traditions  of  Vishnu  which  had  coexisted  with  Sivaism 
and  Buddhism  for  centuries.  It  derived  its  doctrines  from  the 
Vedas,  not,  however,  in  a  direct  channel,  but  filtered  through  the 
two  great  epic  poems.  It  forms  one  of  the  eighteen  Puranas  or 
Sanskrit  theological  works,  in  which  the  Brahman  molders  of 
Vishnuism  and  Sivaism  embodied  their  rival  systems.  These 
works  especially  extol  the  second  and  third  members  of  the  Hindu 
triad,  now  claiming  the  preeminence  for  Vishnu  as  the  sole  deity, 
and  now  for  Siva;  but  in  their  higher  flights  rising  to  a  recogni- 
tion that  both  are  but  forms  for  representing  the  one  eternal  God. 
They  are  said  to  contain  1,500,000  lines.  They  exhibit  only  the 
Brahmanical  aspect  of  Vishnu-worship  and  Siva-worship,  and  are 
devoid  of  any  genuine  sympathy  for  the  lower  castes. 

The  first  of  the  line  of  Vishnuite  reformers  was  Ramanuja, 
a  Brahman  of  southern  India.  In  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury he  led  a  movement  against  the  Sivaites,  proclaiming  the  unity 
of  God,  under  the  title  of  Vishnu,  the  cause  and  the  creator  of  all 
things.  Persecuted  by  the  Chola  king  in  southern  India,  who  tried 
to  enforce  Sivaite  conformity  throughout  his  dominions,  Ramanuja 
fled  to  the  Jain  sovereign  of  Mysore.     This  Jain  prince  he  con- 

1  For  a  fuller  account  of  the  worship  of  Jagannath,  or  Juggernaut,  at  Puri, 
see  the  corresponding  chapter  in  Hunter's  "  Imperial  Gazeteer,"  vol.  VI.,  or  in 
Hunter's  "Indian  Empire";  and  also  the  article  "Peri"  (town),  in  the  "Impe- 
rial Gazeteer,"  vol.  XL 


84  INDIA 

700-1500 

verted  to  the  Vishnuiie  faith  by  expelling  an  evil  spirit  from  his 
daughter.  Seven  hundred  monasteries,  of  which  four  still  remain, 
are  said  to  have  been  erected  by  his  followers  before  his  death. 

Ramanand  stands  fifth  in  the  apostolic  succession  from  Rama- 
nuja,  and  spread  his  doctrine  through  northern  India  in  the  four- 
teenth century.  He  had  his  headquarters  in  a  monastery  at 
Benares,  but  wandered  from  place  to  place,  preaching  the  one  God 
under  the  name  of  Vishnu.  He  chose  twelve  disciples,  not  from 
the  priests  or  nobles,  but  among  the  despised  castes.  One  of  them 
was  a  leather-dresser,  another  a  barber,  and  the  most  distinguished 
of  all  was  the  reputed  son  of  a  weaver.  Ramanuja  had  addressed 
himself  chiefly  to  the  pure  Aryan  castes,  and  wrote  in  the  Sanskrit 
language  of  the  Brahmans.  Ramanand  appealed  to  the  people,  and 
the  literature  of  his  sect  is  in  the  dialects  familiar  to  the  masses. 
The  Hindi  vernacular  owes  its  development  into  a  written  lan- 
guage, partly  to  the  folk-songs  of  the  peasantry  and  the  war-ballads 
of  the  Rajput  court-bards,  but  chiefly  to  the  literary  requirements 
of  the  new  popular  religion  of  Vishnu. 

Kabir,  one  of  the  twelve  disciples  of  Ramanand,  carried  his 
doctrines  throughout  Bengal  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. As  his  master  had  labored  to  gather  together  all  castes  of 
the  Hindus  into  one  common  faith,  so  Kabir,  seeing  that  the 
Hindus  were  no  longer  the  whole  inhabitants  of  India,  tried,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  to  build  up  a  religion  that 
should  embrace  Hindu  and  Mohammedan  alike.  The  writings  of 
his  sect  acknowledge  that  the  God  of  the  Hindu  is  also  the  God  of 
the  Mussulman.  His  universal  name  is  The  Inner,  whether  he 
be  invoked  as  the  Ali  of  the  Mohammedans,  or  as  the  Rama  of 
the  Hindus.  "  To  Ali  and  to  Rama  we  owe  our  life,"  say  the 
scriptures  of  Kabir's  sect,  "  and  we  should  show  like  tenderness  to 
all  who  live.  .  .  .  The  Hindu  fasts  every  eleventh  day;  the 
Mussulman  on  the  Ramazah.  Who  formed  the  remaining  months 
and  days,  that  you  should  venerate  but  one?  .  .  .  The  city 
of  the  Hindu  God  is  to  the  east  [Benares],  the  city  of  the  Mussul- 
man God  is  to  the  west  [Mecca] ;  but  explore  your  own  heart,  for 
there  is  the  God  both  of  the  Mussulmans  and  of  the  Hindus.  Be- 
hold but  One  in  all  things.  He  to  whom  the  world  belongs,  he  is 
the  father  of  the  worshipers  alike  of  Ali  and  of  Rama.  He  is  my 
guide,  he  is  my  priest." 

At  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  Nanak  Shah  taught  doc- 


a     2 

3  S 


HINDUISM  85 

700-1500 

trines  in  the  Punjab  differing  but  little  from  those  promulgated  by 
Kabir  in  Bengal.  His  followers  ultimately  formed  the  religious 
and  political  organization  known  as  the  Sikhs.2 

In  i486  Chaitanya  was  born,  and  spread  the  Vishnuite  doc- 
trines, with  the  worship  of  Jagannath,  throughout  the  deltas  of 
Bengal  and  Orissa.  Signs  and  wonders  attended  Chaitanya 
through  life;  and  during  four  centuries  he  has  been  worshiped  as 
an  incarnation  of  Vishnu.  Extricating  ourselves  from  the  halo 
of  legend  which  surrounds  this  apostle  of  Jagannath,  we  know  lit- 
tle of  his  private  life  except  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  Brahman 
settled  at  Nadiya  in  Bengal ;  that  in  his  youth  he  married  the 
daughter  of  a  celebrated  saint;  that  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  he 
forsook  the  world,  and,  renouncing  the  state  of  a  householder,  re- 
paired to  Orissa,  where  he  devoted  the  rest  of  his  days  to  the 
propagation  of  the  faith.  He  disappeared  in  1527  a.  d.  With 
regard  to  his  doctrine  we  have  the  most  ample  evidence.  He  held 
that  all  men  are  alike  capable  of  faith,  and  that  all  castes  by  faith 
become  equally  pure.  Implicit  belief  and  incessant  devotion  were 
his  watchwords.  Contemplation  rather  than  ritual  was  his  path- 
way to  salvation.  Obedience  to  the  religious  guide  is  one  of  the 
leading  features  of  his  sect;  but  he  warned  his  disciples  to  respect 
their  teachers  as  second  fathers,  and  not  as  gods.  The  great  end 
of  his  system,  as  of  all  Indian  forms  of  worship,  is  the  liberation 
of  the  soul.  He  held  that  such  liberation  does  not  mean  the  anni- 
hilation of  separate  existence.  It  consists  in  nothing  more  than 
an  entire  freedom  from  the  stains  and  the  frailties  and  sinful  de- 
sires of  the  body. 

The  followers  of  Chaitanya  belong  to  every  caste,  but  they 
acknowledge  the  rule  of  the  gosains  or  descendants  of  the  original 
disciples.  The  sect  is  open  alike  to  the  married  and  unmarried.  It 
has  its  celibates  and  wandering  mendicants,  but  its  religious  teach- 
ers are  generally  married  men.  They  live  with  their  wives  and 
children  in  clusters  of  houses  around  a  temple  to  Krishna,  an  in- 
carnation of  Vishnu.  The  adoration  of  the  founder,  Chaitanya,  is 
thus  a  sort  of  family  worship  in  Orissa.  The  landed  gentry  wor- 
ship him  with  a  daily  ritual  in  household  chapels  dedicated  to  his 
name.  After  his  death,  a  sect  arose  among  his  followers,  who 
asserted  the  spiritual  independence  of  women.     In  their  monastic 

2  See  Trumpp,  "  Nanak,  der  Stifter  der  Sikh-Religion  "  and  "  Die  Religion 
der  Sikhs." 


86  INDIA 

700-1500 

inclosures,  male  and  female  cenobites  live  in  celibacy,  the  women 
shaving  their  heads,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  lock  of  hair. 
The  two  sexes  chant  the  praises  of  Vishnu  and  Chaitanya  together 
in  hymn  and  solemn  dance.  The  really  important  doctrine  of  the 
sect  is  their  recognition  of  the  value  of  women  as  instructors  of 
the  outside  female  community.  For  long  they  were  the  only 
teachers  admitted  into  the  zananas  of  good  families  in  Bengal. 
Three-quarters  of  a  century  ago  they  had  effected  a  change  for  the 
better  in  the  state  of  female  education;  and  the  value  of  such  in- 
struction was  assigned  as  the  cause  of  the  sect  spreading  so  widely 
in  Calcutta. 

The  death  of  Chaitanya  marked  the  beginning  of  a  spiritual 
decline  in  Vishnu-worship.  About  1520  Vallabha-Swami  preached 
in  northern  India  that  the  liberation  of  the  soul  did  not  depend 
upon  the  mortification  of  the  body ;  and  that  God  was  to  be  sought, 
not  in  nakedness  and  hunger  and  solitude,  but  amid  the  enjoyments 
of  this  life.  An  opulent  sect  had,  from  an  early  period,  attached 
itself  to  the  worship  of  Krishna  and  his  bride  Radha,  a  mystic  sig- 
nificance being  of  course  assigned  to  their  pastoral  loves.  Still 
more  popular  among  Hindu  women  is  the  adoration  of  Krishna  as 
the  Bala  Gopala,  or  the  infant  cowherd,  perhaps  unconsciously 
affected  by  the  Christian  worship  of  the  Divine  Child.  Another 
influence  of  Christianity  on  Hinduism  may  possibly  be  traced  in 
the  growing  importance  assigned  by  the  Krishna  sects  to  faith, 
as  an  all-sufficient  instrument  of  salvation. 

Vallabha-Swami  was  the  apostle  of  Vishnuism  as  a  religion 
of  pleasure.  The  special  object  of  his  homage  was  Vishnu  in  his 
pastoral  incarnation,  in  which  he  took  the  form  of  the  divine  youth 
Krishna,  and  led  an  Arcadian  life  in  the  forest.  Shady  bowers, 
lovely  women,  exquisite  viands,  and  everything  that  appeals  to  the 
luscious  sensuousness  of  a  tropical  race,  are  mingled  in  his  wor- 
ship. His  daily  ritual  consists  of  eight  services,  in  which  Krishna's 
image,  as  a  beautiful  boy,  is  delicately  bathed,  anointed  with  es- 
sences, splendidly  attired,  and  sumptuously  fed.  The  followers  of 
the  first  Vishnuite  reformers  dwelt  together  in  secluded  monas- 
teries, and  went  about  scantily  clothed,  living  upon  alms.  The 
Vallabha-Swami  sect  performs  its  devotions  arrayed  in  costly  ap- 
parel, anointed  with  oil,  and  perfumed  with  camphor  or  sandal- 
wood. It  seeks  its  converts  not  among  weavers,  or  leather-dressers, 
or  barbers,  but  among  wealthy  bankers  and  merchants,  who  look 


HINDUISM  87 

700-1500 

upon  life  as  a  thing  to  be  enjoyed,  and  upon  pilgrimage  as  a  holi- 
day excursion,  or  an  opportunity  for  trade. 

The  worship  of  Siva  and  Vishnu  acts  as  a  religious  bond 
among  the  Hindus,  in  the  same  way  as  caste  supplies  the  basis  of 
their  social  organization.  Theoretically,  the  Hindu  religion  starts 
from  the  Veda,  and  acknowledges  its  divine  authority.  Practi- 
cally, we  have  seen  that  Hinduism  takes  its  origin  from  many 
sources.  Vishnu-worship  and  Sivaite  rites  represent  the  two  most 
popular  combinations  of  these  various  elements.  The  highly  cul- 
tivated Brahman  is  a  pure  theist;  the  less  cultivated  worships  the 
Divinity  under  some  chosen  form,  his  ishta-devata.  The  ordinary 
Brahman,  especially  in  the  south,  takes  as  his  "  chosen  deity " 
Siva  in  his  deep  philosophical  aspects  as  the  fountain  of  being  and 
of  reproduction,  the  symbol  of  death  deprived  of  its  terrors  and 
welcomed  as  the  entrance  into  new  forms  of  life.  The  phallic 
linga  serves  him  as  an  emblem  of  the  unseen  God.  The  middle 
classes  and  the  trading  community  adore  some  incarnation  of 
Vishnu.  The  low-castes  propitiate  Siva  the  Destroyer,  or  one  of 
his  female  manifestations,  such  as  the  dread  Kali.  Almost  every 
Hindu  of  education  feels  that  his  outward  object  of  homage  is 
merely  his  ishta-devata,  or  a  "  chosen  "  form  under  which  to  adore 
the  supreme  deity,  Param-eswara. 

The  teachings  of  religious  reformers  and  the  development 
of  new  sects  did  not  cease  entirely  with  Chaitanya  and  Vallabha- 
Swami.  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  these  newer  sects  is  the 
Brahma  Samaj,  which  owes  its  origin  to  Raja  Ram  Mohan  Rai 
(1772- 1 835),  whose  teachings  were  purely  monotheistic  and 
spiritual.  He  discarded  all  external  symbols  and  ceremonies  and 
supplemented  the  spiritual  adoration  of  the  deity  with  a  practical 
system  of  morality  requiring  a  life  conformable  to  the  divine  will. 
The  avowed  followers  of  this  sect  are  few  in  number  and  are  con- 
fined chiefly  to  Calcutta,  but  they  command  the  sympathy  of  many 
of  the  educated  natives  of  Bengal.3 

3  See  P.  C.  Mozoomdar,  "  The  Faith  and  Progress  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj," 
Calcutta,  1882,  and  S.  D.  Collet,  "  Brahmo  Year  Book,"  London,  1876,  ff. 


Chapter  IX 

EARLY   MOHAMMEDAN   CONQUERORS.    714-1526 

HINDUISM  was  for  a  time  submerged,  but  never  drowned, 
by  the  tide  of  Mohammedan  conquest,  which  set  steadily 
toward  India  about  1000  a.  d.  At  the  present  day,  the 
south  of  India  remains  almost  entirely  Hindu,  and  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  the  Indian  feudatory  chiefs  are  still  under  Brah- 
man influence,  but  in  the  northwest,  where  the  first  waves  of  in- 
vasion have  always  broken,  about  one-third  of  the  population  now 
profess  Islam.  The  upper  valley  of  the  Ganges  boasts  a  succes- 
sion of  Mussulman  capitals;  and  in  the  swamps  of  Lower  Bengal, 
the  bulk  of  the  non-Aryan  or  aboriginal  population  have  become 
converts  to  the  Mohammedan  religion.  The  Mussulmans  now 
make  62,000,000  of  the  total  of  294,000,000  in  India. 

While  Buddhism  was  giving  place  to  Hinduism  in  India,  a 
new  faith  had  arisen  in  Arabia.  Mohammed,  born  in  570  A.  d., 
created  a  conquering  religion,  and  died  in  632.  Within  a  hundred 
years  after  his  death,  his  followers  had  invaded  the  countries  of 
Asia  as  far  as  the  Hindu  Kush.  Here  their  progress  was  stayed; 
and  Islam  had  to  consolidate  itself,  during  three  more  centuries, 
before  it  grew  strong  enough  to  grasp  the  rich  prize  of  India,  Al- 
most from  the  first  the  Arabs  had  fixed  eager  eyes  upon  that 
wealthy  empire,  and  several  premature  inroads  foretold  the  coming 
storm. 

About  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of  the  Prophet,  during  the 
reign  of  the  Khalif  Usman,  a  naval  expedition  visited  Thana  and 
Broach  on  the  Bombay  coast.  Other  raids  toward  Sind  took  place 
in  662  and  664,  with  no  lasting  results.  In  711,  however,  the 
youthful  Kasim  advanced  into  Sind,  to  claim  damages  for  an 
Arab  ship  which  had  been  seized  at  an  Indian  port.  After  a  bril- 
liant campaign  he  settled  himself  in  the  Indus  Valley;  but  the 
farther  advance  of  the  Mussulmans  depended  on  the  personal  dar- 
ing of  their  leader,  and  was  arrested  by  his  death  in  714.  The  de- 
spairing valor  of  the  Hindus  struck  the  invaders  with  wonder. 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  89 

714-888 

One  Rajput  garrison  preferred  utter  extermination  to  submission. 
They  raised  a  huge  funeral  pile,  upon  which  the  women  and  chil- 
dren first  threw  themselves.  The  men  having  bathed,  took  a  sol- 
emn farewell  of  each  other,  and,  throwing  open  the  gates,  rushed 
upon  the  weapons  of  the  besiegers,  and  perished  to  a  man.  In  750, 
the  Rajputs  are  said  to  have  expelled  the  Mohammedan  governor 
from  Sind;  but  it  was  not  till  828  that  the  Hindus  regained  pos- 
session of  that  province. 

The  armies  of  Islam  had  carried  the  crescent  throughout  Asia 
west  of  the  Hindu  Kush,  and  through  Africa  and  southern  Europe, 
to  distant  Spain  and  France,  before  they  obtained  a  foothold  in  the 
Punjab.  This  long  delay  was  due  not  only  to  the  daring  of  the 
Indian  tribes,  such  as  the  Sind  Rajputs  just  mentioned,  but  to 
the  military  organization  of  the  Hindu  kingdoms.  To  the  north  of 
the  Vindhyas,  three  separate  groups  of  Hindu  princes  governed 
the  great  river-valleys.  The  Rajputs  ruled  in  the  northwest, 
throughout  the  Indus  plains,  and  along  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Jumna.  The  ancient  Middle  Land  of  Sanskrit  times  (Madhya- 
desa)  in  the  valley  of  the  Ganges,  was  divided  among  powerful 
Hindu  kingdoms,  with  their  suzerain  at  Kanauj.  The  lower  Gan- 
getic  valley,  from  Behar  downward,  was  still  in  part  governed  by 
Pal  or  Buddhist  dynasties,  whose  names  are  found  from  Benares 
to  jungle-buried  hamlets  deep  in  the  Bengal  delta.  The  Vindhya 
ranges  stretched  their  wall  of  forest  and  mountain  between  the 
northern  and  southern  halves  of  India.  Their  eastern  and  central 
regions  were  peopled  by  fierce  hill  tribes.  At  their  western  extrem- 
ity, toward  the  Bombay  coast,  lay  the  Hindu  kingdom  of  Malwa, 
with  its  brilliant  literary  traditions  of  Vikramaditya,  and  a  vast 
feudal  array  of  fighting  men.  India  to  the  south  of  the  Vindhyas 
was  occupied  by  a  number  of  warlike  princes,  chiefly  of  non-Aryan 
descent,  but  loosely  grouped  under  three  great  semi-Hindu  or 
semi-Buddhistic  overlords  represented  by  the  Chera,  Chola,  and 
Pandya  dynasties. 

Each  of  these  groups  of  kingdoms,  alike  in  the  north  and  in 
the  south,  had  a  certain  power  of  coherence  to  oppose  to  a  foreign 
invader;  while  the  large  number  of  the  groups  and  units  rendered 
conquest  a  very  tedious  process.  Even  when  the  overlord  or  cen- 
tral authority  was  vanquished,  the  separate  groups  and  units  had 
to  be  defeated  in  detail;  and  each  supplied  a  nucleus  for  subse- 
quent revolt.     We  have  seen  how  the  brilliant  attempt  in  711,  to 


90  INDIA 

828-977 

found  a  lasting  Mohammedan  dynasty  in  Sind,  failed.  Three  cen- 
turies later,  the  utmost  efforts  of  a  series  of  Mussulman  invaders 
from  the  northwest  only  succeeded  in  annexing  a  small  portion  of 
the  frontier  Punjab  provinces,  between  977  and  1176.  The  Hindu 
power  in  southern  India  was  not  completely  broken  till  the  battle 
of  Talikot  in  1565;  and  within  a  hundred  years,  in  1650,  the  great 
Hindu  revival  had  commenced,  which,  under  the  form  of  the 
Maratha  confederacy,  was  destined  to  break  up  the  empire  in 
India.  That  empire,  even  in  the  north  of  India,  was  only  consoli- 
dated by  Akbar's  policy  of  incorporating  Hindu  chiefs  and  states- 
men into  his  government  (1 556-1 605).  Up  to  Akbar's  time,  and 
during  the  earlier  years  of  his  reign,  a  series  of  Hindu  or  Rajput 
wars  had  challenged  the  Mohammedan  supremacy.  In  less  than 
two  centuries  after  his  death,  the  Mogul  successor  of  Akbar  was 
a  puppet  and  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Hindu  Marathas  at 
Delhi. 

The  popular  notion  that  India  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  Mus- 
sulmans is  opposed  to  the  historical  facts.  Mohammedan  rule 
in  India  consisted  of  a  series  of  invasions  and  partial  conquests, 
during  eleven  centuries,  from  the  Arab  raid  about  647  to  Ahmad 
Shah's  tempest  of  devastation  in  1761.  They  represent  in  Indian 
history  the  overflow  of  the  tribes  and  peoples  of  central  Asia  to 
the  southeast:  as  the  Huns,  Turks,  and  various  Tatar. tribes  dis- 
close in  early  European  annals  the  westward  movements  from  the 
same  great  breeding-ground  of  nations.  At  no  time  was  Islam 
triumphant  throughout  all  India.  Hindu  dynasties  always  ruled 
over  a  large  area.  At  the  height  of  the  Mohammedan  power  the 
Hindu  princes  paid  tribute,  and  sent  agents  to  the  imperial  court, 
but  even  this  modified  supremacy  of  the  Mogul  empire  of  Delhi 
lasted  less  than  a  century  and  a  half  (1560-1707).  Before  the  end 
of  that  brief  period,  the  Hindus  had  again  begun  the  work  of  re- 
conquest.  The  Hindu  chivalry  of  Rajputana  was  closing  in  upon 
Delhi  from  the  southeast;  the  religious  confederation  of  the  Sikhs 
was  growing  into  a  military  power  on  the  northwest.  The  Mara- 
thas, who  combined  the  fighting  powers  of  the  Hindu  low-castes 
with  the  statesmanship  of  the  Brahmans,  had  begun  to  subject  the 
Mohammedan  kingdoms  in  southern  India  to  tribute.  So  far  as 
can  now  be  estimated,  the  advance  of  the  English  power  in  the 
eighteenth  century  alone  saved  the  Mogul  empire  from  reverting 
to  the  Hindus. 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  91 

977-1001 

The  first  collision  between  Hinduism  and  Islam  on  the  Pun- 
jab frontier  was  the  act  of  the  Hindus.  In  977  Jaipal,  the  Hindu 
chief  of  Lahore,  annoyed  by  Afghan  raids,  led  his  troops  through 
the  mountains  against  the  Mohammedan  kingdom  of  the  Ghaz- 
nivides,  in  Afghanistan,  who  were  of  Turkish  origin.  Subuktigin, 
the  Ghaznivide  prince,  after  severe  fighting,  took  advantage  of  a 
hurricane  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  Hindus  through  the  pass. 
He  allowed  them,  however,  to  return  to  India,  on  the  surrender  of 
fifty  elephants,  and  the  promise  of  one  million  dirhams.  This  is 
the  Persian  spelling,  and  like  its  Arabic  equivalent,  derham,  is 
derived  from  the  Greek  drachma.  It  is  a  silver  coin  weighing 
about  43.7  grains  troy  and  therefore  worth  a  little  more  than  the 
United  States  dime,  which  contains  38.5  grains.  The  sum  there- 
fore, would  amount  to  over  $100,000,  but  owing  to  the  difference 
in  the  purchasing  power,  a  somewhat  larger  sum  would  represent 
the  relative  value. 

Tradition  relates  how  Jaipal,  having  regained  his  capital,  was 
counseled  by  the  Brahmans  standing  at  his  right  hand  not  to  dis- 
grace himself  by  paying  ransom  to  a  barbarian;  while  his  nobles 
and  warrior  chiefs,  standing  at  his  left,  implored  him  to  keep  faith. 
In  the  end,  Subuktigin  swept  through  the  hills  to  enforce  his  ran- 
som, defeated  Jaipal,  and  stationed  an  Afghan  officer  with  10,000 
horse  to  garrison  Peshawar  (977).  Subuktigin  was  soon  after- 
ward called  away  to  fight  in  central  Asia,  and  his  Indian  raid  left 
behind  it  only  this  Peshawar  outpost,  but  henceforth  the  Afghans 
held  both  ends  of  the  Khaibar  Pass. 

In  997  Subuktigin  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Mah- 
mud  of  Ghazni,  aged  sixteen.  This  valiant  monarch  reigned  for 
thirty-three  years,  and  extended  his  father's  little  Afghan  king- 
dom into  a  great  sovereignty  stretching  from  Persia  on  the  west 
to  far  within  the  Punjab  on  the  east.  Having  spent  four  years  in 
consolidating  his  power  in  Afghanistan  to  the  west  of  the  Khaibar 
Pass,  Mahmud  led  in  1001  the  first  of  his  seventeen  invasions  of 
India.  Of  these,  thirteen  were  directed  to  the  subjugation  of  the 
western  Punjab,  one  was  an  unsuccessful  incursion  into  Kashmir, 
and  the  remaining  three  were  short  but  furious  raids  against  more 
distant  cities, — Kanauj,  Gwalior,  and  Somnath.  Jaipal,  the  Hindu 
frontier  chief  of  Lahore,  was  again  defeated.  According  to  Hindu 
custom,  a  twice-conquered  prince  was  deemed  unworthy  to  reign; 
and  Jaipal,  mounting  a  funeral  pile,  solemnly  made  over  his  king- 


92  INDIA 

1001-1026 

dom  to  his  son,  and  burned  himself  in  his  regal  robes.  Another 
local  chief,  rather  than  yield  himself  to  the  victor,  fell  upon  his  own 
sword.  In  the  sixth  expedition  (1008),  the  Hindu  ladies  melted 
their  ornaments,  while  the  poorer  women  spun  cotton,  to  support 
their  husbands  in  the  war.  In  one  great  battle  the  fate  of  the 
invaders  hung  in  the  balance.  Mahmud,  alarmed  by  a  coalition  of 
the  Indian  kings  as  far  as  Oudh  and  Malwa,  intrenched  himself 
near  Peshawar.  A  sortie  which  he  made  was  driven  back,  and  the 
wild  Ghakkar  tribe  burst  into  the  camp  and  slaughtered  nearly  4000 
Mussulmans,  when  an  accident  in  the  Hindu  army  started  a  panic 
and  altered  the  fortunes  of  the  day.  Mahmud  completely  routed 
the  Hindus  and  captured  the  valuable  fortress  of  Nagarkot. 

Each  expedition,  however,  ended  by  further  strengthening  the 
Mohammedan  foothold  in  India.  Mahmud  carried  away  enormous 
booty  from  the  Hindu  temples,  such  as  Thaneswar  and  Nagarkot; 
and  his  sixteenth  and  most  famous  expedition  was  directed  against 
the  temple  of  Somnath  in  Gujarat.  There  is  some  uncertainty 
about  the  chronology  of  Mahmud's  reign  and  some  authorities  put 
the  plunder  of  Somnath  in  1024  and  others  in  1025-1026.  After 
bloody  repulses,  he  took  the  town.  The  Hindu  garrison,  at  the 
end  of  their  gallant  defense,  left  500  of  their  warriors  dead,  and 
put  out  in  boats  to  sea.  The  famous  idol  of  Somnath  was  merely 
one  of  the  twelve  renowned  lingas  of  Siva-worship  erected  in  va- 
rious parts  of  India.  Mahmud,  having  taken  the  name  of  the 
"  Idol-Smasher,"  the  modern  Persian  historians  gradually  con- 
verted the  plunder  of  Somnath  into  a  legend  of  his  pious  zeal. 
Forgetting  the  contemporary  accounts  of  the  idol  as  a  rude  block 
of  stone,  Firishta  tells  how  Mahmud,  on  entering  the  temple,  was 
offered  an  enormous  ransom  by  the  priests  if  he  would  spare  the 
image.  Mahmud  cried  out  that  he  would  rather  be  remembered 
as  the  breaker  than  the  seller  of  idols,  and  clove  the  god  open  with 
his  mace.  Forthwith  a  vast  treasure  of  jewels  poured  forth  from 
its  vitals,  which  explained  the  liberal  offers  of  the  priests,  and  re- 
warded the  disinterested  piety  of  the  monarch.  The  growth  of  this 
fable  can  be  clearly  traced,  but  it  is  still  repeated.  Mahmud  carried 
off  the  temple  gates,  with  fragments  of  the  lingas,  to  Ghazni,  and 
on  the  way  nearly  perished  with  his  army  in  the  Indus  desert;  the 
so-called  "  sandalwood  gates  of  Somnath,"  brought  back  as  a 
trophy  from  Ghazni  by  Lord  Ellenborough  in  1842,  and  paraded 
through  northern  India,  were  as  clumsy  a  forgery  as  the  story 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  93 

1026-1030 

of  the  jewel-bellied  idol  himself.  Mahmud  died  at  Ghazni  in 
1030. 

As  the  result  of  seventeen  invasions  of  India,  and  of  twenty- 
five  years'  fighting,  Mahmud  had  reduced  the  western  districts  of 
the  Punjab  to  the  control  of  his  Afghan  kingdom  of  Ghazni,  and 
left  the  remembrance  of  his  raids  throughout  northern  India 
as  far  as  Kanauj  on  the  east  and  Gujarat  in  the  south.  He  never 
set  up  as  a  resident  sovereign  in  India.  His  expeditions  beyond 
the  Punjab  were  the  adventures  of  a  religious  knight-errant,  with 
the  plunder  of  a  temple-city,  or  the  demolition  of  an  idol,  as  their 
object,  rather  than  serious  efforts  at  conquest.  As  his  father 
Subuktigin  had  left  Peshawar  as  an  outpost  garrison  of  Ghazni, 
so  Mahmud  left  the  Punjab  as  an  outlying  province  of  that 
Afghan  kingdom. 

The  Mohammedan  chroniclers  tell  many  stories,  not  only  of 
his  valor  and  piety,  but  also  of  his  thrift.  One  day  a  poor  woman 
complained  that  her  son  had  been  killed  by  robbers  in  a  distant 
desert  of  Irak.  Mahmud  said  he  was  very  sorry,  but  that  it  was 
difficult  to  prevent  such  accidents  so  far  from  the  capital.  The  old 
woman  rebuked  him  with  the  words,  "  Keep  no  more  territory  than 
you  can  rightly  govern  " ;  and  the  sultan  forthwith  rewarded  her, 
and  sent  troops  to  guard  all  caravans  passing  that  way.  Mahmud 
was  an  enlightened  patron  of  poets,  and  his  liberality  drew  to  his 
court  the  great  Ferdousi,  or  Firdausi,  that  is  the  Paradaisiac,  the 
name  popularly  given  to  Abul  Kasim  Mansur,  who  died  at  Tus 
in  Khurasan  in  1020. 

The  sultan  listened  with  delight  to  his  Shah-namah,  or  Book 
of  Kings,  and  promised  him  a  dirham,  meaning  a  golden  one,  for 
each  verse  on  its  completion.  After  thirty  years  of  labor,  the  poet 
claimed  his  reward.  But  the  sultan,  finding  that  the  poem  had  run 
to  60,000  verses,  offered  him  60,000  silver  dirhams,  instead  of 
dirhams  of  gold.  Ferdousi  retired  in  disgust  from  the  court,  and 
wrote  a  bitter  satire,  which  to  this  day  tells  the  story  of  the  alleged 
base  birth  of  the  monarch.  Mahmud  forgave  the  satire,  but  re- 
membered the  great  epic,  and,  repenting  of  his  meanness,  sent 
100,000  golden  dirhams  to  the  poet.  The  bounty  came  too  late; 
for,  according  to  the  legend,  as  the  royal  messengers  bearing  the 
bags  of  gold  entered  one  gate  of  Ferdousi's  city,  the  poet's  corpse 
was  being  borne  out  by  another.  The  sum  originally  given  him 
would  have  amounted  to  more  than  $6000,  which  may  be  com- 


94  INDIA 

1030-1191 

pared  with  the  ten  pounds  or  $50  which  Milton  received  for 
"  Paradise  Lost."  There  are  various  editions  of  the  Shah-namah, 
and  French  and  German  translations,  but  no  complete  English 
translation. 

During  a  century  and  a  half  the  Punjab  remained  under  Mah- 
mud's  successors  as  an  Afghan  Mussulman  province  in  India. 
There  had  long  been  a  feud  between  the  Afghan  towns  of  Ghor 
and  Ghazni.  Mahmud  subdued  Ghor  in  1010;  but  about  105 1  the 
Ghor  chief  captured  Ghazni  and  dragged  its  principal  men  to  his 
own  capital,  where  he  cut  their  throats,  and  used  their  blood  in 
making  mortar  for  the  fortifications.  After  various  reprisals,  Ghor 
finally  triumphed  over  Ghazni  in  1 152 ;  and  Khusru,  the  last  of  Mah- 
mud's  line,  fled  to  Lahore,  the  capital  of  his  outlying  Indian  terri- 
tory. In  1 1 86  this  also  was  wrested  from  him  by  the  Ghor  prince, 
Shahab-ud-din,  or  Muiz-ud-din,  better  known  as  Mohammed  of 
Ghor,  who  had  begun  the  conquest  of  India  on  his  own  account 
eleven  years  before.  Each  of  the  Hindu  principalities  fought  hard, 
and  some  of  them  still  survive,  more  than  seven  centuries  after  the 
torrent  of  Afghan  invasion  swept  over  their  heads. 

On  his  first  expedition  toward  Delhi  in  1191,  Mohammed  of 
Ghor  was  utterly  defeated  by  the  Hindus  at  Thanes  war  in  the  Pun- 
jab, badly  wounded,  and  barely  escaped  with  his  life.  His  scat- 
tered hosts  were  chased  for  forty  miles,  but  he  gathered  together 
the  wreck  of  his  army  at  Lahore,  and,  aided  by  new  hordes  from 
Afghanistan,  again  marched  into  Hindustan  in  1193.  Family 
quarrels  among  the  Rajputs  prevented  a  united  effort  against  him. 
The  cities  of  Delhi  and  Kanauj  stand  forth  as  the  centers  of  rival 
Hindu  monarchies,  each  of  which  claimed  the  first  place  in  north- 
ern India.  A  Chauhan  Rajput  prince,  ruling  over  Delhi  and 
A j mere,  bore  the  proud  name  of  Prithwi  Raja  or  suzerain.  The 
Rahtor  Rajput  king  of  Kanauj,  whose  capital  can  still  be  traced 
across  eight  square  miles  of  broken  bricks  and  rubbish  in  Farukha- 
bad  district,  celebrated  a  feast,  in  the  spirit  of  the  ancient  Hindu 
horse  sacrifice,  to  proclaim  himself  the  overlord.  At  such  a  feast 
all  menial  offices  had  to  be  filled  by  royal  vassals;  and  the  Delhi 
monarch  was  summoned  as  a  gatekeeper,  along  with  the  other 
princes  of  Hindustan.  During  the  ceremony,  the  daughter  of  the 
king  of  Kanauj  was  to  make  her  swayam-vara,  as  in  the  Sanskrit 
epics.  The  Delhi  raja  loved  the  maiden,  but  he  could  not  brook 
to  stand  at  another  man's  gate.    As  he  did  not  arrive,  the  Kanauj 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  95 

1191-1203 

king  set  up  a  mocking-  image  of  him  at  the  door.  When  the  prin- 
cess entered  the  hall  to  make  her  choice,  she  looked  calmly  round 
the  circle  of  kings,  then,  stepping  proudly  past  them  to  the  door, 
threw  her  bridal  garland  over  the  neck  of  the  ill-shapen  image. 
Forthwith,  says  the  story,  the  Delhi  monarch  rushed  in,  sprang 
with  the  princess  on  his  horse,  and  galloped  off  toward  his  northern 
capital.  The  outraged  father  led  out  his  Kanauj  army  against 
the  runaways,  and,  having,  according  to  the  legend,  called  in  the 
Afghans  to  attack  Delhi  on  the  other  side  from  the  west,  brought 
about  the  ruin  of  both  the  Hindu  kingdoms  of  Delhi  and  Kanauj. 

The  tale  serves  to  record  the  disputes  among  the  Rajput 
princes,  which  prevented  a  united  resistance  to  Mohammed  of 
Ghor.  Mohammed  found  Delhi  occupied  by  the  Tomara  clan, 
A j  mere  by  the  Chauhans,  and  Kanauj  by  the  Rahtors.  These 
three  Rajput  states  formed  the  natural  breakwaters  against  in- 
vaders from  the  northwest,  but  their  feuds  are  said  to  have  left 
the  kingdom  of  Delhi  and  Ajmere,  then  united  under  one  Chauhan 
overlord,  only  64  survivors  out  of  108  warrior  chiefs.  In  1193 
the  Afghans  again  swept  down  on  the  Punjab.  Prithwi  Raja  of 
Delhi  and  Ajmere  was  defeated  and  slain.  His  heroic  queen 
burned  herself  on  his  funeral  pile.  Mohammed  of  Ghor,  having 
occupied  Delhi,  pressed  on  to  Ajmere,  and  in  n  94  overthrew  the 
rival  Hindu  monarch  of  Kanauj,  whose  body  was  identified  on 
the  field  of  battle  by  his  false  teeth.  The  brave  Rahtor  Rajputs  of 
Kanauj,  with  others  of  the  Rajput  clans  in  northern  India,  quitted 
their  homes  in  large  bodies  rather  than  submit  to  the  stranger. 
They  migrated  to  the  regions  bordering  on  the  desert  of  the  Indus, 
and  there  founded  the  military  kingdoms  which  bear  their  name, 
Rajputana,  to  this  day.  History  takes  her  narrative  of  these  events 
from  the  matter-of-fact  statements  of  the  Persian  annalists,  but 
the  Hindu  court-bard  of  Prithwi  Raja  left  behind  a  patriotic  ver- 
sion of  the  fall  of  his  race.  His  ballad-chronicle,  known  as  the 
"  Prithwiraj  Rasau  of  Chand,"  is  one  of  the  earliest  poems  in  Hindi. 
It  depicts  the  Mussulman  invaders  as  beaten  in  all  the  battles  except 
the  last  fatal  one.  Their  leader  is  taken  prisoner  by  the  Hindus, 
and  released  for  a  heavy  ransom,  but  the  quarrels  of  the  chiefs 
ruined  the  Hindu  cause. 

Setting  aside  these  patriotic  songs,  Benares  and  Gwalior  mark 
the  southwestern  limits  of  Mohammed  of  Ghor's  own  advance,  but 
his  general,  Bakhtiyar  Khilji,  conquered  Behar  in  1199,  and  Lower 


96  INDIA 

1203-1210 

Bengal  down  to  the  delta  in  1203.  On  the  approach  of  the  Mus- 
sulmans, the  Brahmans  advised  Lakshman  Sen,  the  Hindu  king 
of  Bengal,  to  remove  his  capital  from  Nadiya  to  some  more  dis- 
tant city,  but  the  prince,  a  religious  old  man  of  eighty,  could  not 
make  up  his  mind,  until  the  Afghan  general  had  seized  his  capital, 
and  burst  into  the  palace  one  day  while  his  majesty  was  at  dinner. 
The  monarch  slipped  out  by  a  back  door  without  having  time  to 
put  on  his  shoes,  and  fled  to  Puri  in  Orissa,  where  he  spent  his 
remaining  days  in  the  service  of  the  god  Jagannath.  Meanwhile 
the  sultan,  Mohammed  of  Ghor,  divided  his  time  between  cam- 
paigns in  Afghanistan  and  Indian  invasions.  Ghor  was  his  capi- 
tal, and  he  had  little  time  to  consolidate  his  Indian  conquests. 
Even  in  the  Punjab,  the  tribes  were  defeated  rather  than  subdued. 
In  1203  the  Ghakkars  issued  from  their  mountains,  took  Lahore, 
and  devastated  the  whole  province.  In  1206  a  party  of  the  same 
clan  swam  the  Indus,  on  the  bank  of  which  the  Afghan  camp  was 
pitched,  and  stabbed  the  sultan  while  asleep  in  his  tent. 

Mohammed  of  Ghor  was  no  religious  knight-errant  of  Islam 
like  Mahmud  of  Ghazni,  but  a  practical  conqueror.  The  objects 
of  his  distant  expeditions  were  not  temples,  but  provinces.  Subuk- 
tigin  had  left  Peshawar  as  an  outpost  of  Ghazni  in  977 ;  and  Mah- 
mud had  reduced  the  western  Punjab  to  an  outlying  province  of 
the  same  kingdom  in  1030.  That  was  the  net  result  of  the  Turki 
invasions  of  India  from  Ghazni  (977-1186).  Mohammed  of  Ghor 
left  the  whole  north  of  India,  from  the  delta  of  the  Indus  to  the 
delta  of  the  Ganges,  under  skillful  Mohammedan  generals,  who  on 
his  death  in  1206  set  up  as  kings  on  their  own  account. 

His  Indian  viceroy,  Kutab-ud-din,  proclaimed  himself  sover- 
eign of  India  at  Delhi,  and  founded  a  line  which  lasted  from  1206 
to  1290.  Kutab  claimed  the  control  over  all  the  Mohammedan 
leaders  and  soldiers  of  fortune  in  India  from  Sind  to  Lower  Ben- 
gal. His  name  is  preserved  at  his  capital  by  the  Kutab  Mosque, 
with  its  graceful  colonnade  of  richly-sculptured  Hindu  pillars,  and 
by  the  Kutab  Minar,  which  raises  its  tapering  shaft,  incrusted  with 
chapters  from  the  Koran,  high  above  the  ruins  of  old  Hindu  Delhi. 
It  is  238  feet  high  and  is  said  by  Stanley  Lane-Poole  to  be  the 
highest  minaret  in  the  world.  It  was  somewhat  damaged  by  an 
earthquake  in  1803.  Kutab-ud-din  had  started  life  as  a  Turki 
slave,  and  several  of  his  successors  rose  by  valor  or  intrigue  from 
the  same  low  condition  to  the  throne.     His  dynasty  is  accordingly 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  97 

1210-1288 

known  as  that  of  the  Slave  Kings.  Under  them  India  became  for 
the  first  time  the  seat  of  resident  Mohammedan  sovereigns.  In 
12 10   Kutab-ud-din  died. 

The  Slave  dynasty  found  itself  face  to  face  with  the  three 
dangers  which  have  beset  the  Mohammedan  rule  in  India  from  the 
outset,  and  beneath  which  that  rule  eventually  succumbed.  First, 
rebellions  by  its  own  servants — Mussulman  generals,  or  viceroys 
of  provinces ;  second,  revolts  of  the  Hindus ;  third,  fresh  invasions, 
chiefly  by  Moguls,  from  central  Asia. 

Altamsh,  the  third  and  greatest  sultan  of  the  Slave  dynasty, 
had  to  reduce  the  Mohammedan  governors  of  Lower  Bengal  and 
Sind,  both  of  whom  set  up  as  independent  rulers ;  and  he  narrowly 
escaped  destruction  by  a  Mogul  invasion  from  central  Asia.  The 
Moguls  under  Genghis  Khan  pierced  through  the  Indian  passes  in 
pursuit  of  an  Afghan  prince,  in  1221 ;  but  their  progress  was  stayed 
by  the  Indus,  and  Delhi  remained  untouched.  Before  the  death  of 
Altamsh  the  Hindus  had  ceased  for  a  time  to  struggle  openly ;  and 
the  Mohammedan  viceroys  of  the  Slave  dynasty  of  Delhi  ruled  all 
India  north  of  the  Vindhya  Range,  including  the  Punjab,  the  North- 
western Provinces,  Oudh,  Behar,  Lower  Bengal,  Ajmere,  Gwalior, 
Malwa,  and  Sind.  The  kalif  of  Bagdad  acknowledged  India  as 
a  separate  Mohammedan  kingdom  during  the  reign  of  Altamsh, 
and  in  1229  coins  were  struck  in  recognition  of  the  new  empire  of 
Delhi.    Altamsh  died  in  1236. 

His  daughter  Raziya  was  the  only  woman  who  ever  occupied 
the  Mohammedan  throne  of  Delhi.  Learned  in  the  Koran,  indus- 
trious in  public  business,  firm  and  energetic  in  every  crisis,  she 
bears  in  history  the  masculine  name  of  the  Sultan  Raziya.  The 
favor  which  she  showed  to  her  master  of  the  horse,  an  Abyssinian 
slave,  offended  her  Afghan  generals ;  and,  after  a  troubled  reign  of 
three  and  a  half  years,  she  was  deposed  and  put  to  death  in  1240. 

Mogul  irruptions  from  central  Asia  and  Hindu  revolts  within 
India  soon  began  to  undermine  the  Slave  dynasty.  The  Moguls 
are  said  to  have  burst  through  Tibet  into  northeastern  Bengal 
in  1245;  and  during  the  next  forty-three  years  they  repeatedly 
marched  down  the  Afghan  passes  into  the  Punjab  (1245-1288). 
The  wild  Indian  tribes,  such  as  the  Ghakkars  and  the  hillmen  of 
Mewat,  ravaged  the  Mohammedan  provinces  in  the  Punjab  almost 
up  to  the  gates  of  Delhi.  Rajput  revolts  foreshadowed  that  inex- 
tinguishable vitality  of  the  Hindu  military  races,  which  was  to 


98  INDIA 

1288-1290 

harass,  from  first  to  last,  the  Mohammedan  dynasties,  and  to  out- 
live them.  Under  the  Slave  Kings,  even  the  north  of  India  was 
only  half  subdued  to  the  Mohammedan  sway.  The  Hindus  rose 
again  and  again  in  Malwa,  Rajputana,  Bundelkhand,  and  along  the 
Ganges  and  the  Jumna,  as  far  as  Delhi  itself. 

The  last  but  one  of  the  Slave  line,  Balban,  had  not  only  to 
fight  the  Moguls,  the  wild  Indian  tribes,  and  the  Rajput  clans — he 
was  also  compelled  to  battle  with  his  own  viceroys.  Having  in 
his  youth  entered  into  a  compact  for  mutual  support  and  advance- 
ment with  forty  of  his  Turki  fellow-slaves  in  the  palace,  he  had, 
when  he  came  into  power,  to  break  the  strong  confederacy  thus 
formed.  After  serving  ably  for  twenty  years  as  the  chief  minister 
for  one  of  the  sons  and  successors  of  Altamsh,  the  brilliant  slave 
and  successful  minister  followed  his  master  on  the  throne  in  1265, 
and  continued  his  efforts  to  defend  the  kingdom  against  the 
foreign  invader  and  to  suppress  domestic  intrigue  and  insurrec- 
tion. Some  of  his  provincial  governors  he  publicly  scourged ; 
others  were  beaten  to  death  in  his  presence;  and  a  general  who 
failed  to  reduce  the  rebel  Mohammedan  viceroy  of  Bengal  was 
hanged.  Balban  himself  moved  down  to  the  Gangetic  delta,  and 
crushed  the  Bengal  revolt  with  merciless  skill.  His  severity  against 
Hindu  rebels  knew  no  bounds.  He  nearly  exterminated  the 
Rajputs  of  Mewat,  south  of  Delhi,  putting  100,000  of  them  to  the 
sword.  He  then  cut  down  the  forests  which  formed  their  retreats, 
and  opened  up  the  country  to  tillage.  The  miseries  caused  by  the 
Mogul  hordes  at  that  time  in  central  Asia  drove  a  crowd  of  princes 
and  poets  from  Afghanistan  and  other  Mohammedan  countries  to 
seek  shelter  at  the  Indian  court.  Balban  boasted  that  no  fewer 
than  fifteen  once  independent  sovereigns  had  fed  on  his  bounty,  and 
he  called  the  streets  of  Delhi  by  the  names  of  their  late  kingdoms, 
such  as  Bagdad,  Khuarezm,  and  Ghor.  He  died  in  1287.  His 
grandson  and  successor  was  murdered,  and  in  1290  the  Slave  dy- 
nasty ended. 

In  that  year,  Jalal-ud-din,  a  Khilji  leader,  succeeded  to  the 
Delhi  throne,  and  founded  a  line  which  lasted  for  thirty  years. 
The  clan  of  Khiljis  derived  their  name  from  the  town  of  Khilj 
in  Afghanistan,  and  though  possibly  of  Turkish  origin  they  had 
become  thoroughly  Afghan  in  character  and  hostile  to  the  Turks, 
who  had  supplied  most  of  the  kings  of  the  Slave  dynasty.  The 
Khilji  dynasty  extended  the  Mohammedan  power  into  southern 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  99 

1290-1305 

India.  Ala-ud-din,  the  nephew  of  Jalal-ud-din,  when  governor 
of  Karra  near  Allahabad,  pierced  through  the  Vindhya  ranges 
with  his  cavalry,  and  plundered  the  Buddhist  temple-city  of  Bhilsa, 
300  miles  off.  After  trying  his  powers  against  the  rebellious  Hindu 
princes  of  Bundelkhand  and  Malwa,  Ala-ud-din  formed  the  idea 
of  a  grand  raid  into  the  Deccan.  With  a  band  of  only  8000  horse, 
he  rode  into  the  heart  of  southern  India.  On  the  way  he  gave  out 
that  he  was  flying  from  his  uncle  Jalal-ud-din's  court,  to  seek  serv- 
ice with  the  Hindu  king  of  Rajamahendri.  The  generous  Rajput 
princes  abstained  from  attacking  a  refugee  in  his  flight;  and  Ala- 
ud-din  surprised  the  great  city  of  Deogiri,  the  modern  Daulatabad, 
at  that  time  the  capital  of  the  Hindu  kingdom  of  Maharashtra. 
Having  suddenly  galloped  into  its  streets,  he  announced  himself 
as  only  the  advance  guard  of  the  whole  imperial  army,  levied  an 
immense  booty,  and  carried  it  back  700  miles  to  the  seat  of  his 
governorship  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges.  He  then  lured  the  Sul- 
tan Jalal-ud-din,  his  uncle,  to  Karra,  in  order  to  divide  the  spoil, 
and  murdered  the  old  man  in  the  act  of  clasping  his  hand  (1296). 

Ala-ud-din  scattered  his  spoils  in  gifts  or  charity  like  a  devout 
Mussulman,  and  proclaimed  himself  sultan.  The  twenty  years  of 
his  reign  established  the  Mohammedan  sway  in  southern  India. 
He  reconquered  Gujarat  from  the  Hindus  in  1297;  captured  Rin- 
timbur,  after  a  difficult  siege,  from  the  Jaipur  Rajputs  in  1300; 
took  the  fort  of  Chitor,  and  partially  subjected  the  Sesodia  Rajputs 
(1303);  and,  having  thus  reduced  the  Hindus  on  the  north  of 
the  Vindhyas,  prepared  for  the  conquest  of  southern  India  or  the 
Deccan.  Before  starting  on  this  great  expedition  he  had  to  meet  five 
Mogul  inroads  from  central  Asia.  In  1295  he  defeated  a  Mogul 
invasion  under  the  walls  of  his  capital,  Delhi;  in  1304- 1305  he  en- 
countered four  others,  sending  all  his  prisoners  to  Delhi,  where 
the  chiefs  were  trampled  by  elephants,  and  the  common  soldiery 
slaughtered  in  cold  blood.  He  crushed  with  equal  cruelty  several 
rebellions  which  took  place  among  his  own  family  during  the  same 
period,  first  putting  out  the  eyes  of  his  insurgent  nephews,  and  then 
beheading  them  ( 1 299- 1 300  ) . 

The  tyrannical  character  of  Ala-ud-din  was  shown  not  only 
in  ferocity  and  bloodshed,  but  also  in  the  despotic  measures  of  his 
administration.  The  Hindus  were  crushed  by  a  merciless  system 
of  taxation  under  which  Mohammedans  fared  but  little  better. 
Draconian  laws  were  enforced  against  intemperance.     Prices  of 


100  INDIA 

1305-1311 

foodstuffs  and  of  all  articles  of  common  use  were  fixed  by  royal 
edict  and  rigidly  enforced.  A  thorough  system  of  espionage  ter- 
rorized the  people.  These  measures  were  all  intended  to  assure  the 
security  of  the  kingdom,  whose  fortifications  he  repaired  and  ex- 
tended and  whose  army  he  increased  and  reorganized. 

His  affairs  in  northern  India  being  thus  settled,  he  undertook 
the  conquest  of  the  south.  In  1303  he  had  sent  his  eunuch  slave, 
Malik  Kafur,  with  an  army,  through  Bengal,  to  attack  Warangal, 
the  capital  of  the  southeastern  Hindu  kingdom  of  Telingana.  In 
1306  Kafur  marched  victoriously  through  Malwa  and  Khandesh 
into  the  Maratha  country,  where  he  captured  Deogiri,  and  per- 
suaded the  Hindu  king  Ram  to  return  with  him  to  do  homage 
at  Delhi.  Meanwhile  the  Sultan  Ala-ud-din  was  conquering  the 
Rajputs  in  Marwar.  His  slave  general,  Kafur,  made  expeditions 
through  Maharashtra  and  the  Karnatik,  as  far  south  as  Adam's 
Bridge,  at  the  extremity  of  India,  where  he  built  a  mosque.  There 
is  some  difficulty  in  the  identification  of  the  names  of  the  places 
mentioned  in  this  expedition  and  the  location  of  Kafur's  mosque 
is  not  settled  beyond  question. 

The  Mohammedan  sultan  of  India  was  no  longer  merely  an 
Afghan  king  of  Delhi.  Three  great  waves  of  invasion  from  cen- 
tral Asia  had  created  a  large  Mohammedan  population  in  northern 
India.  First  had  come  the  Turkis,  represented  by  the  House  of 
Ghazni ;  then  the  Afghans,  commonly  so  called,  represented  by 
the  House  of  Ghor ;  next  the  Moguls,  having  failed  to  conquer  the 
Punjab,  had  taken  service  in  great  numbers  with  the  sultans  of 
Delhi.  Under  the  Slave  Kings  the  Mogul  mercenaries  had  be- 
come so  powerful  as  to  require  to  be  massacred  (1286).  About 
1292  three  thousand  Moguls,  having  been  converted  from  their 
old  Tatar  rites  to  Islam,  had  received  a  suburb  of  Delhi  for  their 
residence.  Other  Moguls  followed.  After  various  plots  by  them, 
Ala-ud-din  slaughtered  15,000  of  the  settlers,  and  sold  their  fam- 
ilies as  slaves  (1311). 

The  unlimited  supply  of  soldiers  which  this  ruler  could  draw 
upon  from  the  Turki,  Afghan,  and  Mogul  settlers  in  northern 
India  and  from  countries  beyond,  enabled  him  to  send  armies  far- 
ther south  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  In  his  later  years  the 
Hindus  revolted  in  Gujarat;  the  Rajputs  reconquered  Chitor;  and 
many  of  the  Mohammedan  garrisons  were  driven  out  of  the  Deccan. 
On  the  capture  of  Chitor  in  1303,  the  Rajput  garrison  had  pre- 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  101 

1311-1330 

ferred  death  to  submission.  The  peasantry  still  chant  an  early- 
Hindi  ballad,  telling  how  the  queen  and  thirteen  thousand  women 
threw  themselves  on  a  funeral  pile,  while  the  men  rushed  upon  the 
swords  of  the  besiegers.  A  remnant  cut  their  way  to  the  Aravalli 
Hills;  and  the  Rajput  independence,  although  in  abeyance  during 
Ala-ud-din's  reign,  was  never  crushed.  Having  imprisoned  his 
sons  and  given  himself  up  to  paroxysms  of  rage,  Ala-ud-din  died 
in  13 16,  helped  to  the  grave,  it  is  said,  by  poison  given  by  his 
favorite  general,  Kafur. 

During  the  four  remaining  years  of  the  House  of  Khilji,  the 
actual  power  passed  to  Khusru  Khan,  a  renegade  low-caste  Hindu, 
who  imitated  the  military  successes  and  vices  of  his  patron,  the 
General  Kafur,  and  in  the  end  murdered  him.  Khusru  became  all 
in  all  to  the  new  emperor,  the  debauchee  Mubarik ;  then  slew  him, 
and  seized  the  throne.  While  outwardly  professing  Islam,  Khusru 
desecrated  the  Koran  by  using  it  as  a  seat,  and  degraded  the  pulpits 
of  the  mosques  into  pedestals  for  Hindu  idols.  In  1321,  after  a 
few  months'  reign,  he  was  slain  by  his  revolted  soldiery,  and  the 
Khilji  dynasty  disappeared. 

The  leader  of  the  rebellion  was  Ghiyas-ud-din  Tughlak,  who 
had  started  life  as  a  Turki  slave,  and  risen  to  the  frontier  gov- 
ernorship of  the  Punjab.  He  founded  the  Tughlak  dynasty,  which 
lingered  on  for  ninety-six  years,  although  submerged  for  a  time  by 
the  invasion  of  Timur  in  1398.  Ghiyas-ud-din  removed  the  capital 
from  Delhi  to  a  spot  about  four  miles  farther  east,  and  called  it 
Tughlakabad. 

His  son  and  successor,  Mohammed  Tughlak,  was  an  accom- 
plished scholar,  a  skillful  general,  and  a  man  of  severe  abstinence, 
but  his  ferocity  of  temper,  perhaps  inherited  from  the  tribes  of  the 
steppes  of  central  Asia,  rendered  him  merciless  as  a  judge,  and 
careless  of  human  suffering.  The  least  opposition  drove  him  into 
outbursts  of  insane  fury.  He  wasted  the  treasures  accumulated  by 
Ala-ud-din  in  buying  off  the  Mogul  hordes,  who  again  and  again 
swept  through  Afghanistan  into  the  Punjab.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
fits  of  ambition,  he  raised  an  army  for  the  invasion  of  Persia,  and 
is  said  to  have  sent  out  an  expedition  of  100,000  men  against 
China.  The  force  against  Persia  broke  up  for  want  of  pay,  and 
plundered  his  own  dominions;  the  army  against  China  perished 
almost  to  a  man  in  the  Himalayan  passes.  He  planned  great  con- 
quests in  southern  India,  and  dragged  the  whole  population  of 


102  INDIA 

1330-1351 

Delhi  800  miles  off  in  the  far  south  to  Deogiri,  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Daulatabad.  Twice  he  allowed  the  miserable  suppliants 
to  return  to  Delhi;  twice  he  compelled  them  on  pain  of  death  to 
quit  it.  One  of  these  forced  migrations  took  place  amid  the  horrors 
of  a  famine ;  the  citizens  perished  by  thousands,  and  in  the  end  the 
king  had  to  give  up  the  attempt.  Having  drained  his  treasury,  he 
issued  a  forced  currency  of  copper  coins,  by  which  he  tried  to  make 
the  king's  brass  equal  to  other  men's  silver.  During  the  same  cen- 
tury, the  Mogul  conqueror  of  China,  Kublai  Khan,  had  extended 
the  use  of  paper  notes,  early  devised  by  the  Chinese;  and  Kai 
Khatu  had  introduced  a  bad  imitation  of  them  into  Persia.  Mo- 
hammed Tuglak's  scheme  was  not  without  some  basis  in  sound 
economics,  but  the  forced  currency  quickly  brought  its  own  ruin. 
Foreign  merchants  refused  the  worthless  money,  trade  came  to 
a  stand,  and  the  king  had  to  take  payment  of  his  taxes  in  his  own 
depreciated  coinage.  On  this  failure  he  redeemed  the  tokens  in 
gold  and  silver. 

Meanwhile  the  provinces  began  to  throw  off  the  Delhi  yoke. 
Mohammed  Tughlak  had  succeeded  in  1325  to  the  greatest  empire 
which  had,  up  to  that  time,  acknowledged  a  Mohammedan  sultan 
in  India.  His  bigoted  zeal  for  Islam  forbade  him  to  confide  in 
Hindu  princes  or  Hindu  officers ;  he  dared  not  trust  his  own  kins- 
men; and  he  thus  found  himself  compelled  to  fill  every  high  post 
with  foreign  Mohammedan  adventurers,  who  had  no  interest  in 
the  stability  of  his  rule.  The  annals  of  the  period  present  a  long 
series  of  outbreaks,  one  part  of  the  empire  throwing  off  its  alle- 
giance as  soon  as  another  had  been  brought  back  to  subjection.  His 
own  nephew  rebelled  in  Malwa,  and,  being  caught,  was  flayed  alive 
(1338).  The  Punjab  governor  revolted  in  1339,  was  crushed,  and 
put  to  death.  The  Mussulman  viceroys  of  Lower  Bengal  and  of 
the  Coromandel  coast  set  up  for  themselves,  about  1340,  and  could 
not  be  subdued.  The  Hindu  kingdoms  of  Karnata  and  Telingana 
recovered  their  independence  in  1344,  and  expelled  the  Mussulman 
garrisons.  The  Mohammedan  governors  in  the  Deccan  also  re- 
volted, while  the  troops  in  Gujarat  rose  in  mutiny.  Mohammed 
Tughlak  rushed  with  an  army  to  the  south  to  take  vengeance  on  the 
traitors,  but  hardly  had  he  put  down  their  rising  than  he  was  called 
away  by  insurrections  in  Gujarat,  Malwa,  and  Sind.  He  died  in 
1 35 1,  while  chasing  rebels  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Indus. 

Mohammed  Tughlak  was  the  first  Mussulman  ruler  of  India 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  103 

1351-1375 

who  can  be  said  to  have  had  a  regular  revenue  system.  He  in- 
creased the  land  tax  between  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna — in  some 
districts  tenfold,  in  others  twenty-fold.  The  husbandmen  fled  be- 
fore his  tax-gatherers,  leaving  their  villages  to  lapse  into  jungle, 
and  formed  themselves  into  robber  clans.  He  cruelly  punished  all 
who  trespassed  on  his  game  preserves,  and  he  is  reputed  to  have 
invented  a  kind  of  man-hunt  which  is  without  precedent  in  the 
annals  of  human  wickedness.  He  surrounded  a  large  tract  with 
his  army,  "  and  then  gave  orders  that  the  circle  should  close  toward 
the  center,  and  that  all  within  it  (mostly  inoffensive  peasants) 
should  be  slaughtered  like  wild  beasts."  This  sort  of  hunt  was 
more  than  once  repeated;  and  on  another  occasion  there  was  a 
general  massacre  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  city  of  Kanauj. 
Such  horrors  led  in  due  time  to  famine,  and  the  miseries  of 
the  country  exceeded  all  powers  of  description.  The  orientalist, 
Stanley  Lane- Poole,1  takes  a  much  more  favorable  view  of  this 
ruler.  He  quotes  from  Ibn-Batuta :  "  This  king  is  of  all  men  the 
one  who  loves  to  dispense  gifts  and  to  shed  blood.  His  gateway 
is  never  free  from  a  beggar  whom  he  has  relieved  and  a  corpse 
which  he  has  slain."  His  character  reminds  the  student  of  eight- 
eenth century  European  history  of  Joseph  II.  of  Austria,  in  his 
generous  and  benevolent  schemes;  of  Robespierre  in  his  devotion 
to  theory  and  his  endeavor  to  establish  a  reign  of  virtue  by  mas- 
sacring the  vicious;  and  of  Carrier  of  Nantes  in  his  insane  thirst 
for  blood.  As  a  versatile  and  erratic  genius  he  offers  many  points 
of  resemblance  to  the  Holy  Roman  Emperor  Frederick  II. 

His  cousin,  Firuz  Shah  Tughlak,  succeeded  him.  During  the 
first  twenty  years  of  his  reign,  Firuz  Shah  intrusted  the  cares  of 
state  almost  entirely  to  his  able  prime  minister,  Makbul  Khan, 
an  official  of  Hindu  race  who  had  risen  to  high  rank  under  Mo- 
hammed Tughlak.  The  mother  of  Firuz  Shah  himself  was  a 
Hindu  and  this  combination  of  Hindu  and  Mohammedan  ante- 
cedents undoubtedly  contributed  to  the  popularity  of  this  monarch 
and  to  the  peaceful  prosperity  of  his  rule.  Firuz  Shah,  though  not 
a  strong  man,  deserves  in  many  respects  the  same  credit  as  do  the 
benevolent  despots  of  eighteenth  century  Europe,  with  some  of 
whom  he  might  well  be  compared.  He  ruled  mercifully,  but  had 
to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Mohammedan  kingdoms  of 
Bengal  and  in  the  Deccan,  and  suffered  much  from  bodily  infirmities 
and  court  intrigues.  He  undertook  many  public  works,  such  as 
1  Lane-Poole,  u  Mediaeval  India." 


104  INDIA 

1375-1526 

dams  across  rivers  for  irrigation,  tanks,  caravansaries,  mosques, 
colleges,  hospitals,  and  bridges,  but  his  greatest  achievement  was  the 
old  Jumna  canal.  This  canal  drew  its  waters  from  the  Jumna 
near  a  point  where  it  leaves  the  mountains,  and  connected  that  river 
with  the  Ghaggar  and  the  Sutlej  by  irrigation  channels.  Part 
of  it  has  been  reconstructed  by  the  British  government,  and  spreads 
a  margin  of  fertility  on  either  side  at  this  day.  But  the  dynasty 
of  Tughlak  soon  sank  amid  Mohammedan  mutinies  and  Hindu 
revolts;  and  under  Mahmud,  its  last  real  king,  India  fell  an  easy 
prey  to  the  great  Mogul  invasion  of  1398. 

In  that  year,  Timur — Timur-i-Leng,  that  is,  Timur  the  Lame, 
corrupted  into  Tamerlane — swept  through  the  Afghan  passes  at 
the  head  of  the  united  Tatar  hordes.  He  defeated  the  Tughlak 
king,  Mahmud,  under  the  walls  of  Delhi,  and  entered  the  capital. 
During  five  days  a  massacre  raged ;  "  some  streets  were  ren- 
dered impassable  by  heaps  of  dead,"  while  Timur  calmly  looked  on 
and  held  a  feast  in  honor  of  his  victory.  On  the  last  day  of  1398  he 
resumed  his  march,  first  offering  a  "  sincere  and  humble  tribute 
of  grateful  praise  "  to  God,  in  Firuz  Shah's  marble  mosque  on  the 
banks  of  the  Jumna.  Timur  then  crossed  the  Ganges,  and,  after 
a  great  massacre  at  Meerut,  proceeded  as  far  as  Hardwar.  There 
skirting  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas,  he  retired  westward  into  central 
Asia  (1399).  Timur  left  no  traces  of  his  power  in  India,  save 
desolate  cities.  On  his  departure  Mahmud  Tughlak  crept  back 
from  his  retreat  in  Gujarat,  and  nominally  ruled  till  141 2. 

The  Tughlak  line  finally  ended  in  1414.  The  Sayyid  dynasty 
ruled  from  1414  till  1451,  and  the  Afghan  House  of  Lodi  from 
145 1  to  1526.  Some  of  these  sultans  reigned  over  only  a  few  miles 
round  Delhi,  and  during  the  whole  period  the  Hindu  princes  and 
the  local  Mohammedan  kings  were  practically  independent  through- 
out the  greater  part  of  India.  The  House  of  Lodi  was  crushed 
beneath  the  Mogul  invasion  of  Babar  in  1526. 

Babar  founded  the  Mogul  empire  in  India,  whose  last  repre- 
sentative died  a  British  state  prisoner  at  Rangoon  in  1862.  Before 
entering  on  the  story  of  that  empire,  it  will  be  well  to  notice  the 
kingdoms,  Hindu  and  Mohammedan,  on  the  south  of  the  Vindhya 
range.  The  three  ancient  kingdoms,  Chera,  Chola,  and  Pandya, 
occupied  the  Dravidian  country  of  southern  India,  peopled  by 
Tamil-speaking  races.  Pandya,  the  largest  of  them,  had  its  capital 
at  Madura,  and  traces  its  foundation  to  the  fourth  century  b.  c.  The 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  105 

1118-1526 

Chola  kingdom  had  its  headquarters  at  Combaconum  and  Tan j  ore. 
Talkad,  in  Mysore,  now  buried  by  the  sands  of  the  Kaveri,  was 
the  capital  of  the  Chera  kingdom  from  288  to  900  a.  d.  The  11 6th 
king  of  the  Madura  or  Pandya  dynasty  was  overthrown  by  the 
Mohammedan  general,  Malik  Kafur,  in  1304,  but  the  Mussulmans 
failed  to  establish  their  power  in  the  extreme  south,  and  a  series  of 
Hindu  dynasties  continued  to  rule  from  Madura  over  the  old 
Pandya  kingdom  until  the  eighteenth  century.  No  European  king- 
dom can  boast  a  continuous  succession  such  as  that  of  Pandya  or 
Madura,  traced  back  by  the  piety  of  genealogists  for  more  than  two 
thousand  years.  The  Chera  or  Mysore  and  Travancore  kingdom 
enumerates  fifty  kings,  and  the  Chola  or  Tanjore  kingdom  sixty- 
six,  besides  minor  offshoot  dynasties. 

Authentic  history  in  southern  India  begins  with  the  Hindu 
kingdom  of  Vijayanagar  or  Narsingha,  from  11 18  to  1565.  The 
capital  can  still  be  traced  within  the  Madras  district  of  Bellary,  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Tungabhadra  River — vast  ruins  of  temples, 
fortifications,  tanks,  and  bridges,  haunted  by  hyenas  and  snakes. 
For  at  least  three  centuries,  Vijayanagar  ruled  over  the  southern 
part  of  the  Indian  peninsula.  Its  Hindu  rajas  waged  war  and  made 
peace  on  equal  terms  with  the  Mohammedan  sultans  of  the  Deccan. 

The  Mohammedan  kingdoms  of  southern  India  sprang  out  of 
the  conquest  of  Ala-ud-din  in  1303  to  1306.  After  a  period  of  con- 
fused fighting,  the  Bahmani  kingdom  of  the  Deccan  emerged  as  the 
representative  of  Mohammedan  rule  in  southern  India.  Zafar 
Khan,  an  Afghan  general  during  the  reign  of  Mohammed  Tughlak, 
defeated  the  Delhi  troops,  and  became  Mussulman  sovereign  of 
the  Deccan.  Having  in  early  youth  been  the  slave  of  a  Brahman, 
who  had  treated  him  kindly,  and  foretold  his  future  greatness,  he 
took  the  title  of  Bahmani,  and  transmitted  it  to  his  successors. 

The  rise  of  the  Bahmani  dynasty  is  usually  assigned  to  the 
year  1347,  and  it  lasted  for  178  years,  or  until  1525.  Its  capitals 
were  successively  at  Kulbarga  and  Bidar,  both  in  the  modern  Hai- 
darabad  territories;  and  it  loosely  corresponded  with  the  nizam's 
dominions  of  the  present  day.  At  the  height  of  their  power,  the 
Mohammedan  Bahmani  kings  claimed  sway  over  half  the  Deccan, 
from  the  Tungabhadra  River  in  the  south  to  Orissa  in  the  north, 
and  from  Masulipatam  on  the  east  to  Goa  on  the  west.  Their  direct 
government  was,  however,  much  more  confined.  They  derived 
support,  in  their  early  struggle  against  the  Delhi  throne,  from  the 


106  INDIA 

1489-1526 

Hindu  southern  kingdoms  of  Vijayanagar  and  Warangal,  but  dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  its  career,  the  Bahmani  dynasty  represented 
the  cause  of  Islam  against  Hinduism  on  the  south  of  the  Vindhyas. 
Its  alliances  and  its  wars  alike  led  to  a  mingling  of  the  Mussul- 
man and  Hindu  populations.  For  example,  the  king  of  Malwa 
invaded  the  Bahmani  dominions  with  a  mixed  force  of  12,000  Mo- 
hammedan Afghans  and  Hindu  Rajputs.  The  Hindu  raja  of 
Vijayanagar  recruited  his  armies  from  Afghan  Mussulmans,  whom 
he  paid  by  assignments  of  land,  and  for  whom  he  built  a  mosque. 
The  Bahmani  Mohammedan  troops,  on  the  other  hand,  were  fre- 
quently led  by  converted  Hindus.  The  Bahmani  armies  were  them- 
selves made  up  of  two  hostile  sects  of  Mussulmans.  One  sect 
consisted  of  Shias,  chiefly  Persians,  Turks,  or  Tatars  from  central 
Asia ;  the  other,  of  native-born  Mussulmans  of  southern  India,  to- 
gether with  Abyssinian  mercenaries,  professing  the  Sunni  faith. 
The  rivalry  between  these  Mussulman  sects  frequently  imperiled 
the  Bahmani  throne.  The  dynasty  reached  its  highest  power  dur- 
ing the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  was  broken  up  by 
its  discordant  elements  between  1489  and  1525. 

Out  of  its  fragments  the  five  independent  Mohammedan  king- 
doms in  the  Deccan  were  formed.  These  were:  the  Adil  Shahi 
dynasty,  with  its  capital  at  Bijapur,  founded  in  1489  by  a  son  of 
Amurath  II.,  sultan  of  the  Ottoman  Turks,  and  annexed  by  the 
Mogul  Emperor  Aurangzeb  in  1686-1688;  the  Kutab  Shahi  dy- 
nasty, with  its  capital  at  Golconda,  founded  in  15 12  by  a  Turkoman 
adventurer  and  also  annexed  by  Aurangzeb  in  1687 -1688;  the 
Nizam  Shahi  dynasty,  with  its  capital  at  Ahmadnagar,  founded  in 
1490  by  a  Brahman  renegade  from  the  Vijayanagar  court  and 
finally  subverted  by  the  Mogul  emperor,  Shah  Jahan,  in  1636; 
the  Imad  Shahi  dynasty  of  Berar,  with  its  capital  at  Ellichpur, 
founded  in  1484  also  by  a  Hindu  from  Vijayanagar  and  annexed 
to  the  Ahmadnagar  kingdom  in  1572 ;  and  the  Barid  Shahi  dynasty, 
with  its  capital  at  Bidar,  founded  1492- 1498  by  a  Turki  or  Georgian 
slave.  The  Bidar  territories  were  small  and  ill-defined;  and  were 
independent  till  after  1609.  Bidar  fort  was  taken  by  Aurangzeb 
in  1657. 

It  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  book  to  trace  the  history  of  these 
local  Mohammedan  dynasties  of  southern  India.  They  preserved 
their  independence  until  the  firm  establishment  of  the  Mogul  em- 
pire in  the  north,  under  Akbar  and  his  successors.    For  a  time  they 


MOHAMMEDAN     CONQUERORS  107 

1340-1526 

had  to  struggle  against  the  great  Hindu  kingdom  of  Vijayanagar. 
In  1565  they  combined  against  that  power,  and,  aided  by  a  re- 
bellion within  Vijayanagar  itself,  they  overthrew  it  at  Talikot  in 
1565.  The  battle  of  Talikot  marks  the  final  downfall  of  Vijayana- 
gar as  a  great  Hindu  kingdom.  Talikot  in  the  Bijapur  district  of 
the  Bombay  presidency  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Mohammedan 
allies  and  the  battle  was  fought  thirty  miles  farther  south  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Kistna  on  January  25,  1565.  The  local  Hindu 
chiefs  or  nayaks  kept  hold  of  their  respective  fiefs,  and  the  Moham- 
medan kings  of  the  south  were  only  able  to  annex  a  part  of  its 
dominions.  From  the  nayaks  are  descended  the  well  known 
palegars  (also  spelled  polygars)  of  the  Madras  presidency,  and  the 
maharaja  of  Mysore,  who  were  minor  chiefs  with  something  like 
feudal  power,  and  are  now  small  landlords  with  feudal  character- 
istics. One  of  the  blood-royal  of  Vijayanagar  fled  to  Chandragiri, 
and  founded  a  line  which  exercised  a  prerogative  of  its  former 
sovereignty,  by  granting  the  site  of  Madras  to  the  English  in 
1639.  Another  scion,  claiming  the  same  high  descent,  lingers  to 
the  present  day  near  the  ruins  of  Vijayanagar,  and  is  known  as 
the  raja  of  Anagundi,  a  feudatory  of  the  nizam  of  Haidarabad. 
The  independence  of  the  local  Hindu  rajas  in  southern  India 
throughout  the  Mohammedan  period  is  illustrated  by  the  Man- 
jarabad  family,  a  line  of  petty  chiefs,  which  maintained  its  au- 
thority from  1397  to  1799. 

In  northern  India  Lower  Bengal  threw  off  the  authority  of 
Delhi  about  1340.  Its  Mohammedan  governor,  Fakir-ud-din,  made 
himself  sovereign  and  stamped  coin  in  his  own  name.  A  succes- 
sion of  a  score  of  kings  ruled  Bengal  until  1538,  when  it  was  tem- 
porarily annexed  to  the  Mogul  empire  of  Delhi  by  Humayun. 
Bengal  was  finally  incorporated  into  that  empire  by  Akbar  in  1576. 
The  great  province  of  Gujarat  in  western  India  had  in  like  manner 
grown  into  an  independent  Mohammedan  kingdom,  with  its  capital 
at  Ahmadabad,  which  lasted  for  nearly  two  centuries,  from  1391  till 
conquered  by  Akbar  in  1573.  The  kingdom  of  Gujarat  was  notable 
for  its  participation  in  the  famous  maritime  struggle  with  the  Mame- 
lukes of  Egypt  against  the  first  Portuguese  viceroy  in  India,  Al- 
meida, at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Malwa,  which 
had  also  risen  to  be  an  independent  state  under  its  Mohammedan 
governors,  was  annexed  by  the  king  of  Gujarat  in  1531.  Even 
Jaunpur,  including  the  territory  of  Benares,  in  the  center  of  the 


108  INDIA 

1394-1526 

Gangetic  valley,  maintained  its  independence  as  a  Mussulman  state 
for  nearly  a  hundred  years,  from  1394  to  1478,  during  the  disturbed 
rule  of  the  Sayyids  and  the  first  Lodi  at  Delhi. 

The  position  of  the  early  Mohammedan  rulers  of  Delhi  was 
a  very  difficult  one.  Successive  Mussulman  hordes  of  Turks, 
Afghans,  and  Tatars  swept  down  the  passes,  and  wrested  India 
from  the  preceding  invaders  of  their  own  Mohammedan  faith.  The 
Delhi  empire  was  therefore  beset  by  three  perpetual  dangers.  First, 
new  Mohammedan  invasions  from  central  Asia;  second,  rebellious 
Mohammedan  generals  or  governors  within  India;  third,  the 
Hindu  races  whom  the  early  Delhi  kings  neither  conciliated  nor 
crushed.  It  was  reserved  for  Akbar  the  Great  to  remedy  the  in- 
herent weakness  of  the  position;  and  by  incorporating  the  Hindus 
into  his  government,  to  put  a  curb  alike  on  Mohammedan  invaders 
from  without,  and  on  too  powerful  Mohammedan  subjects  within. 


Chapter  X 

THE    MOGUL    DYNASTY.     1 526-1 761 

WHEN,  therefore,  Babar  the  Mogul  invaded  India  in  1526, 
he  found  it  divided  among  a  number  of  local  Moham- 
medan kings  and  Hindu  princes.  An  Afghan  sultan  of 
the  House  of  Lodi,  with  his  capital  at  Agra,  ruled  over  what  little 
was  left  of  the  historic  kingdom  of  Delhi.  Babar,  whose  name 
literally  means  "  the  Lion,"  was  born  February  14,  1483,  and  was 
the  fourth  in  descent  from  Timur  the  Tatar.  In  1494,  at  the  early 
age  of  eleven,  he  succeeded  his  father  in  the  petty  kingdom  of 
Ferghana  on  the  Jaxartes  River  (the  modern  Sir-Daria)  ;  and, 
after  romantic  adventures,  conquered  Samarkand,  the  capital  of 
Timur's  line,  in  1497.  Overpowered  by  a  rebellion,  and  driven  out 
of  the  valley  of  the  Oxus,  Babar  seized  the  kingdom  of  Kabul  in 
1504.  During  fifteen  years  he  grew  in  strength  on  the  Afghan 
side  of  the  Indian  passes;  then  in  15 19,  Babar  began  his  series 
of  invasions  into  India,  but  it  was  not  until  the  campaign  of 
1 525-1 526  that  he  was  successful  and  defeated  the  Delhi  sov- 
ereign, Ibrahim  Lodi,  at  Panipat.  This  was  the  first  of  three  great 
battles  which,  within  modern  times,  have  decided  the  fate  of  India 
on  that  same  plain  of  Panipat,  namely:  1526,  1556,  and  1761. 

Panipat  is  near  the  Jumna  in  the  province  of  the  Punjab,  and 
on  the  Grand  Trunk  road  fifty  miles  north  of  Delhi.  The  battle- 
field was  on  the  vast  plain  surrounding  the  town.  Babar's  victory 
was  won  on  the  morning  of  April  21,  1526. 

Having  entered  Delhi,  Babar  received  the  allegiance  of  the 
Mohammedans,  but  was  speedily  attacked  by  the  Rajputs  of  Chitor. 
Those  clans  had  brought  all  Ajmere,  Mewar,  and  Malwa  under 
their  rule,  and  now  threatened  to  found  a  Hindu  empire.  In 
1527  Babar  defeated  them  at  Fatehpur  Sikri,  near  Agra,  after  a 
battle  memorable  for  its  perils,  and  for  Babar's  vow  in  his  ex- 
tremity never  again  to  touch  wine.  He  rapidly  extended  his  power 
as  far  as  Multan  in  the  southern  Punjab,  and  Behar  in  the  eastern 
valley  of  the  Ganges.     Babar  died  at  Agra,  December  26,  1530. 

109 


110  INDIA 

1530-1556 

leaving  a  Mogul  empire  which  stretched  from  the  River  Amu, 
or  Oxus,  in  central  Asia,  to  the  borders  of  the  Gangetic  delta  in 
Lower  Bengal. 

Mogul  is  the  Arabic  spelling  of  Mongol,  and  is  specially  ap- 
plied to  the  emperors  of  India  descended  from  Babar  and  some- 
times called  in  Europe  the  Babarids.  They  were,  however,  of 
mixed  race ;  Babar  himself  was  a  Turk  on  his  father's  side,  though 
a  Mongol  on  his  mother's,  and  he  abhorred  the  very  name  of 
Mogul.  His  descendants  introduced  a  strong  Rajput  strain  by 
their  marriages  with  Hindu  princesses.  The  term  Mogul  is  also 
applied  to  the  followers  of  the  Mogul  emperors,  and  came  to  mean 
any  fair  man  from  central  Asia  or  Afghanistan,  as  distinguished 
from  the  darker  natives  of  India.  The  various  foreign  invaders, 
or  governing  Moslem  class,  Turks,  Afghans,  Pathans,  and  Moguls 
eventually  became  so  mixed  that  all  were  indifferently  termed 
Moguls. 

Babar's  son,  Humayun,  who  was  born  on  April  5,  1508,  suc- 
ceeded him  in  India,  but  had  to  make  over  Kabul  and  the  western 
Punjab  to  his  brother  and  rival,  Kamran.  Humayun  was  thus 
left  to  govern  the  new  conquest  of  India,  and  at  the  same  time  was 
deprived  of  Afghanistan  and  the  Punjab  frontier  from  which  his 
father  had  drawn  his  armies.  The  descendants  of  the  early  Afghan 
invaders,  long  settled  in  India,  hated  the  new  Mohammedan  or 
Mogul  hordes  of  Babar  even  more  than  they  hated  the  Hindus. 
After  ten  years  of  fighting,  Humayun  was  driven  out  of  India  by 
these  Afghans  under  Sher  Shah,  the  governor  of  Bengal.  While 
Humayun  was  flying  through  the  desert  of  Sind  to  Persia,  his  son 
Akbar  was  born  in  the  petty  fort  of  Umarkot  (1542).  Sher  Shah 
made  himself  emperor  of  Delhi,  but  was  killed  while  storming  the 
fortress  of  Kalinjar  in  1545.  He  was  a  far-sighted  man  and  a 
wise  ruler ;  he  originated  the  fiscal  and  other  reforms  which  Akbar 
the  Great  afterward  carried  out  with  such  credit  to  himself.  His 
son,  Islam  Shah,  succeeded,  but,  under  Sher  Shah's  grandson,  the 
Indian  provinces,  including  Malwa,  the  Punjab,  and  Bengal,  re- 
volted against  the  Afghan  dynasty  in  Bengal.  Humayun,  having 
recovered  his  Kabul  dominions,  returned  to  India  and  defeated  the 
Afghan  army  of  Sher  Shah's  nephew,  Sikandar  [Sekunder]  Shah, 
at  Sirhind  in  1555.  Humayun  reigned  again  for  a  few  months 
at  Delhi,  but  died  January  24,  1556. 

Akbar  the  Great,  the  real  founder  of  the  Mogul  empire  as 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  ill 

1556-1561 

it  existed  for  one  and  a  half  centuries,  succeeded  his  father  at  the 
age  of  fourteen.  Born  October  15,  1542,  his  reign  lasted  for 
almost  fifty  years,  from  1556  to  1605,  and  was  therefore  con- 
temporary with  that  of  Queen  Elizabeth  of  England  (1558-1603). 
His  father,  Humayun,  left  but  a  small  kingdom  in  India,  not  so 
large  as  the  present  British  province  of  the  Punjab;  Akbar  ex- 
panded that  small  kingdom  into  an  Indian  empire.  At  the  time 
of  Humayun's  death,  Akbar  was  absent  in  the  Punjab,  under  the 
guardianship  of  Bairam  Khan,  fighting  the  revolted  Afghans. 
Bairam,  a  Turkoman  by  birth,  had  been  the  support  of  the  exiled 
Humayun,  and  held  the  real  command  of  the  army  which  restored 
him  to  his  throne  at  Sirhind.  He  now  became  the  regent  for  the 
youthful  Akbar,  under  the  honored  title  of  Khan  Baba,  equivalent 
to  "  the  king's  father." 

Akbar  and  his  regent  had  at  once  to  advance  from  the  Punjab 
to  reconquer  the  capital,  which  had  been  seized  by  Himu  the  able 
general  of  Sikandar  Shah.  The  forces  met  on  the  field  of  Panipat, 
where  Babar  had  won  India  thirty  years  before,  and  on  Novem- 
ber 5,  1556,  Himu  was  defeated  and  slain.  India  now  passed  finally 
from  the  Afghans  to  the  Moguls.  Sher  Shah's  line  disappeared 
from  northern  India  and  the  Delhi  throne,  although  it  lingered  on 
for  a  time  in  Lower  Bengal. 

Brave  and  skillful  as  a  general,  but  harsh  and  overbearing, 
Bairam  Khan  raised  many  enemies;  and  Akbar,  having  endured 
four  years  of  thraldom,  took  advantage  of  a  hunting  party  in  1560 
to  throw  off  his  minister's  yoke.  The  fallen  regent,  after  a  struggle 
between  his  loyalty  and  his  resentment,  revolted,  was  defeated,  and 
pardoned.  Akbar  granted  him  a  liberal  pension ;  and  Bairam  was 
in  the  act  of  starting  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  when  he  fell  be- 
neath the  knife  of  an  Afghan  assassin,  whose  father  he  had  slain 
in  battle. 

The  reign  of  Akbar  was  a  reign  of  pacification.  On  his  accession 
in  1556  he  found  India  split  up  into  petty  Hindu  and  Mohammedan 
kingdoms,  and  seething  with  discordant  elements;  on  his  death  in 
1605,  he  bequeathed  it  an  almost  united  empire.  The  earlier  in- 
vasions by  Turks,  Afghans,  and  Moguls  had  left  a  powerful  Mo- 
hammedan population  in  India  under  their  own  kings.  Akbar 
reduced  these  Mussulman  states  to  provinces  of  the  Delhi  empire. 
Many  of  the  Hindu  kings  and  Rajput  nations  had  also  regained 
their  independence :   Akbar  brought  them  into  political  dependence 


112  INDIA 

1561-1589 

upon  his  authority.  This  double  task  he  effected  partly  by  force 
of  arms,  but  in  part  also  by  alliances.  He  enlisted  the  Rajput 
princes  by  marriage  and  by  a  sympathetic  policy  in  the  support  of 
his  throne.  He  then  employed  them  in  high  posts,  and  played  off 
his  Hindu  generals  and  Hindu  ministers  alike  against  the  Mogul 
party  in  upper  India,  and  against  the  Afghan  faction  in  Lower 
Bengal. 

Humayun  had  left  but  a  small  kingdom,  confined  to  the 
Punjab,  with  the  districts  round  Delhi  and  Agra.  Akbar  between 
1 561  and  1568  extended  it,  at  the  expense  of  his  nearest  neighbors, 
the  Rajputs.  Jaipur  was  reduced  to  a  fief  of  the  empire ;  and  Akbar 
cemented  his  conquest  by  marrying  the  daughter  of  its  Hindu 
prince.  Jodhpur  was  in  like  manner  overcome ;  and  Akbar  married 
his  son,  Salim,  who  afterward  reigned  under  the  title  of  Jahangir, 
to  the  granddaughter  of  the  raja.  The  Rajputs  of  Chitor  were 
overpowered  in  1568  after  a  long  struggle,  but  would  not  mingle 
their  high-caste  Hindu  blood  even  with  that  of  a  Mohammedan 
emperor.  They  found  shelter  among  the  mountains  and  deserts 
along  the  Indus,  whence  they  afterward  emerged  to  recover  most 
of  their  old  dominions,  and  to  found  their  capital  of  Udaipur,  which 
they  retain  to  this  day.  They  still  boast  that  alone,  among  the 
great  Rajput  clans,  they  never  gave  a  daughter  in  marriage  to 
a  Mogul  emperor. 

Akbar  pursued  his  policy  of  conciliation  toward  all  the  Hindu 
states.  He  also  took  special  care  to  provide  a  career  for  the  lesser 
nobility.  He  appointed  his  brother-in-law,  the  son  of  the  Jaipur 
raja,  governor  of  the  Punjab.  Raja  Man  Singh,  also  a  Hindu 
relative  of  the  emperor's  family,  did  good  war  service  for  Akbar 
from  Kabul  to  Orissa,  and  ruled  as  his  governor  of  Bengal  from 
1589  to  1604.  Akbar's  great  finance  minister,  Raja  Todar  Mall, 
was  likewise  a  Hindu,  and  carried  out  the  first  regular  land-set- 
tlement and  survey  of  India.  He  had  been  trained  under  Sher 
Shah,  and  after  years  of  faithful  service  to  Akbar,  was  his  chief 
finance  minister  from  1582  until  his  death  in  1589.  Lane-Poole 
calls  his  survey  "  the  Domesday  Book  of  the  Mogul  empire."  It 
introduced  upon  a  regular  and  permanent  basis  Sher  Shah's  system 
of  land  revenue  assessment  which  the  British  in  turn  inherited 
from  the  Moguls  as  the  "  settlement  "  system.  Out  of  415  mansab- 
dars,  or  commanders  of  horse,  51  were  Hindus.  Akbar  abolished 
the  jaziah,  the  hated  tax  on  non-Mussulmans,  and  placed  all  his 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  118 

1576-1599 

subjects  upon  a  political  equality.  He  had  the  Sanskrit  sacred  books 
and  epic  poems  translated  into  Persian,  and  showed  a  keen  inter- 
est in  the  religion  of  his  Hindu  subjects.  He  respected  their  laws, 
but  he  put  down  their  inhumane  rites.  He  forbade  trial  by  ordeal, 
animal  sacrifices,  and  child  marriages  before  the  age  of  puberty. 
He  legalized  the  remarriage  of  Hindu  widows;  but  he  failed  to 
abolish  widow-burning  on  the  husband's  funeral  pile,  although  he 
took  steps  to  insure  that  the  act  should  be  voluntary. 

Akbar  thus  incorporated  his  Hindu  subjects  into  the  effective 
force,  both  civil  and  military,  of  his  empire.  With  their  aid  he 
reduced  the  independent  Mohammedan  kings  of  northern  India. 
He  subjugated  the  petty  Hindu  potentates  from  the  Punjab  to 
Behar.  After  a  struggle  he  wrested  Lower  Bengal  in  1576  from 
its  Afghan  princes  of  the  House  of  Sher  Shah.  From  the  time  of 
Akbar's  conquest  of  Lower  Bengal  it  remained  for  nearly  two 
centuries  a  province  of  the  Mogul  empire,  under  governors  ap- 
pointed from  Delhi.  In  1765  it  passed  by  an  imperial  grant  to 
the  British.  Orissa,  on  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  submitted  to  Akbar's 
armies,  under  his  Hindu  general,  Todar  Mall,  in  1575.  On  the 
opposite  coast  of  India,  Gujarat  was  reconquered  from  its  inde- 
pendent Mohammedan  king  in  1 572-1 573,  although  not  finally  sub- 
jugated until  1593.  Malwa  had  been  reduced  in  1572.  Kashmir 
was  conquered  in  1587,  and  its  last  revolt  quelled  in  1592.  Sind 
was  also  annexed  in  1592;  and  by  the  recovery  of  Kandahar  in 
1594,  Akbar  extended  the  Mogul  empire  from  the  heart  of  Afghan- 
istan across  all  India  north  of  the  Vindhyas,  eastward  to  Orissa, 
and  westward  to  Sind.  He  removed  the  seat  of  government  from 
Delhi  to  Agra,  and  founded  Fatehpur  Sikri  as  the  future  capital 
of  the  empire.  From  this  project  he  was  afterward  dissuaded,  by 
the  superior  position  of  Agra  on  the  great  waterway  of  the  Jumna. 
In  1566  he  built  the  Agra  fort,  whose  red  sandstone  battlements 
majestically  overhang  the  river  to  this  day. 

Akbar  began  to  build  at  Sikri  in  1569  and  his  structures  there 
outdid  Louis  XIV.'s  similar  creation  at  Versailles  a  century  later. 
Fatehpur  Sikri  was  abandoned  after  fourteen  years  and  its  splendid 
ruins  to-day  form  the  unburied  Pompeii  of  the  Mogul  empire. 

Akbar's  efforts  to  establish  the  Mogul  empire  in  southern 
India  were  less  successful.  Those  efforts  began  in  1586,  but  dur- 
ing the  first  twelve  years  they  were  frustrated  by  the  valor  and 
statesmanship  of  Chand  Bibi,  the  Mussulman  queen  of  Ahmad- 


114  INDIA 

1599-1605 

nagar.  This  celebrated  lady  skillfully  united  the  usually  hostile 
Abyssinian  and  Persian  factions  in  southern  India,  together  with 
their  armies,  and  strengthened  herself  by  an  alliance  with  Bijapur 
and  other  Mohammedan  states  of  the  south.  In  1599  Akbar  led 
his  armies  in  person  against  the  princess ;  but  notwithstanding  her 
assassination  by  her  mutinous  troops,  Ahmadnagar  was  not  finally 
reduced  till  the  reign  of  Akbar's  grandson  Shah  Jahan,  in  1636. 
Akbar  subjugated  Khandesh,  and  with  this  somewhat  precarious 
annexation  his  conquests  in  southern  India  ceased.  He  returned 
to  northern  India  in  1601,  perhaps  feeling  that  the  conquest  of  the 
south  was  beyond  the  strength  of  his  young  empire. 

His  last  years  were  embittered  by  the  intrigues  of  his  family, 
and  by  the  misconduct  of  his  beloved  son,  Prince  Salim,  afterward 
the  Emperor  Jahangir.  On  October  15,  1605,  he  died,  and  was 
buried  in  the  noble  mausoleum  at  Sikandra,  whose  mingled  archi- 
tecture of  Buddhist  design  and  Saracenic  tracery  bears  witness 
to  the  composite  faith  of  the  founder  of  the  Mogul  empire.  In 
1873  the  British  viceroy,  Lord  Northbrook,  presented  a  cloth  of 
honor  to  cover  the  plain  marble  slab  beneath  which  Akbar  lies. 

Akbar's  conciliation  of  the  Hindus,  and  his  interest  in  their 
literature  and  religion,  made  him  many  enemies  among  the  pious 
Mussulmans.  His  favorite  wife  was  a  Rajput  princess;  another 
of  his  wives  is  said  to  have  been  a  Christian.  On  Thursday  nights 
he  loved  to  collect  professors  of  many  religions  around  him.  He 
listened  impartially  to  the  arguments  of  the  Brahman  and  the 
Mussulman,  the  Zoroastrian,  the  Jew,  the  Jesuit,  and  the  skeptic 
philosopher.  The  history  of  his  life,  the  "  Akbar-namah,"  or  the 
"  Book  of  Akbar,"  written  by  Abul  Fazl  in  1597,  records  such  a 
conference,  in  which  the  Christian  priest  Redif  disputed  with  a  body 
of  Mohammedan  mullas  before  an  assembly  of  the  doctors  of  all 
religions,  and  is  allowed  to  have  had  the  best  of  the  argument. 
Starting  from  the  broad  ground  of  general  toleration,  Akbar  was 
gradually  led  on  by  free  discussion  to  question  the  truth  of  his 
inherited  Mohammedan  creed.  The  counsels  of  his  friend  Abul 
Fazl,  coinciding  with  that  sense  of  superhuman  omnipotence  which 
is  bred  of  despotic  imperial  power,  led  Akbar  at  last  to  promulgate 
a  new  state  religion,  called  "  the  divine  faith,"  based  upon  natural 
theology,  and  comprising  the  best  practices  of  all  known  forms  of 
belief.  Abul  Fazl  was  born  in  1551  and  was  connected  with 
Akbar's  court  from  1574  until  his  death  in  1602,  occupying  the 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  115 

1593-1605 

highest  offices  and  enjoying  the  most  intimate  relations  with  Akbar. 
He  was  introduced  at  court  by  his  brother  Faizi,  who  was  born  in 
1547  and  lived  at  Akbar's  court  on  terms  of  personal  intimacy 
with  the  monarch  from  1568  until  his  death  in  1595.  Faizi  held  a 
title  at  the  court  of  Akbar  equivalent  to  poet  laureate.  The  broth- 
ers played  a  large  part  in  the  religious  life  and  policy  of  Akbar. 
They  wrote  in  Persian,  the  classical  language  of  the  eastern  Mo- 
hammedans, which  Akbar  made  the  language  for  official  business 
in  India. 

Of  this  made-up  creed  Akbar  himself  was  the  prophet,  or 
rather  the  head  of  the  church.  Every  morning  he  worshiped  in  pub- 
lic the  sun,  as  the  representative  of  the  divine  soul  which  animates 
the  universe,  while  he  was  himself  worshiped  by  the  ignorant  mul- 
titude. It  is  doubtful  how  far  he  encouraged  this  popular  adora- 
tion of  his  person,  but  he  certainly  allowed  his  disciples  to  prostrate 
themselves  before  him  in  private.  The  stricter  Mohammedans  ac- 
cused him,  therefore,  of  accepting  a  homage  permitted  only  to  God. 
Akbar  secured  the  establishment  of  toleration  in  1593,  five  years 
before  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

Akbar  not  only  subdued  all  India  to  the  north  of  the  Vindhya 
Mountains,  he  also  organized  it  into  an  empire.  He  partitioned  it 
into  provinces,  over  each  of  which  he  placed  a  governor,  or  vice- 
roy, with  full  civil  and  military  control.  This  control  was  divided 
into  three  departments — the  military,  the  judicial,  including  the 
police,  and  the  revenue.  With  a  view  to  preventing  mutinies  of 
the  troops,  or  assertions  of  the  independence  by  their  leaders,  he 
reorganized  the  army  on  a  new  basis.  He  substituted,  as  far  as 
possible,  money  payments  to  the  soldiers  for  the  old  system  of 
grants  of  land,  called  jagirs,  to  the  generals.  Where  this  change 
could  not  be  carried  out,  he  brought  the  holders  of  the  old  military 
fiefs  under  the  control  of  the  central  authority  at  Delhi.  He  further 
checked  the  independence  of  his  provincial  generals,  by  a  sort  of 
feudal  organization,  in  which  the  Hindu  tributary  princes  took  their 
place  side  by  side  with  the  Mogul  nobles.  The  judicial  adminis- 
tration was  presided  over  by  a  lord  justice,  or  mir-i-adl,  at  the 
capital,  aided  by  kazis,  or  law-officers,  in  the  principal  towns.  The 
police  in  the  cities  were  under  a  superintendent,  or  kotwal,  who  was 
also  a  magistrate.  In  country  districts,  where  police  existed  at  all, 
they  were  left  to  the  management  of  the  landholders  or  revenue 
officers,  but  throughout  rural  India  no  regular  police  force  can 


116  INDIA 

1593-1605 

be  said  to  have  existed  for  the  protection  of  person  and  property 
until  after  the  establishment  of  British  rule.  The  Hindu  village- 
system  had  its  hereditary  watchman  for  each  hamlet.  These  village 
watchmen  were  in  many  parts  of  the  country  taken  from  the 
predatory  castes,  and  were  as  often  leagued  with  the  robbers  as  op- 
posed to  them.  The  landholders  and  revenue  officers  had  each  their 
own  set  of  personal  police,  who  plundered  the  peasantry  in  their 
names. 

Akbar's  revenue  system  was  based  on  the  ancient  Hindu  cus- 
toms, and  survives  to  this  day.  He  first  executed  a  survey  or  actual 
measurement  of  the  fields.  His  officers  then  found  out  the  produce 
of  each  acre  of  land,  and  settled  the  government  share,  amounting 
to  one-third  of  the  gross  produce.  Finally,  they  fixed  the  rates  at 
which  this  share  of  the  crop  might  be  commuted  into  a  money  pay- 
ment. These  processes,  known  as  the  land  settlement,  were  at  first 
repeated  every  year,  but,  to  save  the  peasant  from  the  extortions 
and  vexations  incident  to  an  annual  inquiry,  Akbar's  land  settlement 
was  afterward  made  for  ten  years.  His  officers  strictly  enforced 
the  payment  of  a  third  of  the  whole  produce;  and  Akbar's  land 
revenue  from  northern  India  exceeded  what  the  British  levy  at  the 
present  day.  From  his  fifteen  provinces,  including  Kabul  beyond 
the  Afghan  frontier,  and  Khandesh  in  southern  India,  he  demanded 
in  about  1580,  $78,000,000  per  annum;  or,  excluding  Kabul, 
Khandesh,  and  Sind,  $68,500,000.  The  British  land  tax  from  a 
much  larger  area  of  northern  India  was  $44,432,000  in  1901-1902. 
Allowing  for  the  difference  in  area  and  in  purchasing  power  of  sil- 
ver, Akbar's  tax  was  about  three  times  the  amount  which  the  British 
take.  Returns  for  1594  and  1605  show  the  land  revenue  of  Akbar 
at  $91,000,000  and  $95,000,000.  The  provinces  had  also  to  sup- 
port a  local  militia,  or  bumi,  in  contradistinction  to  the  regular 
royal  army,  at  a  cost  of  at  least  $55,000,000.  Excluding  both 
Kabul  and  Khandesh,  Akbar's  demand  from  the  soil  of  northern 
India  was  about  $123,000,000  per  annum,  under  the  two  items  of 
land  revenue  and  militia  cess.  There  were  also  a  number  of  mis- 
cellaneous taxes.  Akbar's  total  revenue  is  estimated  at  about  $230,- 
000,000;  while  the  total  British  revenue  from  the  corresponding 
region  was  $158,912,000  in  1901-1902. 

Akbar's  Hindu  minister,  Raja  Todar  Mall,  conducted  the  rev- 
enue settlement,  and  his  name  is  still  a  household  word  among  the 
husbandmen  of  Bengal.    Abul  Fazl,  the  man  of  letters,  and  finance 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  117 

1605-1626 

minister  of  Akbar,  compiled  a  statistical  survey  of  the  empire,  to- 
gether with  many  vivid  pictures  of  his  master's  court  and  daily 
life,  in  the  "  Ain-i-Akbari,"  which  may  be  read  with  interest  at 
the  present  day.  Abul  Fazl  was  killed  in  1602  at  the  instigation 
of  Prince  Salim,  the  heir  to  the  throne. 

Salim,  the  favorite  son  of  Akbar,  was  born  late  in  1569,  and 
succeeded  his  father  in  1605,  and  ruled  until  1627,  under  the  title 
of  Jahangir,  or  "  conqueror  of  the  world."  His  reign  of  twenty- 
two  years  was  spent  in  reducing  the  rebellions  of  his  sons,  in  ex- 
alting the  influence  of  his  wife,  and  in  festive  self-indulgence.  He 
carried  on  long  wars  in  southern  India  or  the  Deccan,  but  he  added 
little  to  his  father's  territories.  India  south  of  the  Vindhyas  still 
continued  apart  from  the  northern  empire  of  Delhi.  Malik  Am- 
bar,  the  Abyssinian  minister  of  Ahmadnagar,  maintained,  in  spite 
of  reverses,  the  independence  of  that  kingdom.  At  the  end  of 
Jahangir's  reign,  his  own  son,  Prince  Khurram,  was  a  rebel  and 
a  refugee  in  the  Deccan,  in  alliance  with  Malik  Ambar  against  the 
imperial  troops.  The  Rajputs  also  began  to  reassert  their  inde- 
pendence. In  1614  Prince  Khurram,  on  behalf  of  his  father  the 
emperor,  defeated  the  Udaipur  raja,  but  the  conquest  was  only 
partial  and  for  a  time.  Meanwhile,  the  Rajputs  formed  an  im- 
portant contingent  of  the  imperial  armies,  and  5000  of  their  cavalry 
aided  Prince  Khurram  to  put  down  a  revolt  in  Kabul.  The  Afghan 
province  of  Kandahar  was  wrested  from  Jahangir  by  the  Persians 
in  1 62 1.  The  land  tax  of  the  Mogul  empire  remained  at  about 
$95,000,000,  under  Jahangir,  but  his  total  revenues  were  estimated 
by  William  Hawkins,  who  resided  at  the  Mogul  court  from  1609 
to  161 1,  at  500,000,000  rupees,  or  $275,000,000. 

The  principal  figure  in  Jahangir's  reign  is  his  empress,  Nur 
Jahan,  the  "  light  of  the  world,"  otherwise  known  as  Nur  Mahal, 
the  "  light  of  the  palace."  Born  in  great  poverty,  but  of  a  noble 
Persian  family,  her  beauty  won  the  love  of  Jahangir,  while  they 
were  both  in  their  first  youth,  during  the  reign  of  Akbar.  The  old 
emperor  tried  to  put  her  out  of  his  son's  way,  by  marrying  her  to 
a  brave  soldier,  who  obtained  high  employment  in  Lower  Bengal. 
Jahangir,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  commanded  her  divorce. 
The  husband  refused,  and  was  killed.  The  wife,  being  brought  into 
the  imperial  palace,  lived  for  some  time  in  chaste  seclusion  as  a 
widow,  but  in  the  end  emerged  as  the  Empress  Nur  Jahan,  the 
"  light  of  the  world."     She  surrounded  herself  with  her  relatives,. 


118  INDIA 

1626-1627 

and  at  first  influenced  the  self-indulgent  emperor,  Jahangir,  for  his 
good;  but  the  jealousy  of  the  imperial  princes  and  of  the  Mogul 
generals  against  her  party  led  to  intrigue  and  rebellion.  In  1626 
the  successful  general,  Mahabat  Khan,  found  himself  compelled,  in 
self-defense,  to  turn  against  her.  He  seized  the  emperor,  whom 
he  kept,  together  with  Nur  Jahan,  in  captivity  for  six  months. 
Jahangir  died  in  November  of  the  following  year,  1627,  before  he 
had  completed  the  suppression  of  a  rebellion  against  him,  led  by  his 
son,  Shah  Jahan,  and  his  greatest  general,  Mahabat  Khan. 

Jahangir's  personal  character  is  vividly  portrayed  by  Sir 
Thomas  Roe,  the  first  British  ambassador  to  India  (1615-1618). 
Agra  continued  to  be  the  central  seat  of  the  government,  but  the  im- 
perial army  on  the  march  formed  in  itself  a  splendid  capital.  Jahan- 
gir thought  that  Akbar  had  too  openly  severed  himself  from  the 
Mohammedan  faith.  The  new  emperor  conformed  more  strictly  to 
the  outward  observances  of  Islam,  but  lacked  the  inward  religious 
feeling  of  his  father.  While  he  forbade  the  use  of  wine  to  his 
subjects,  he  spent  his  own  nights  in  drunken  revelry.  He  talked 
religion  over  his  cups  until  he  reached  a  certain  stage  of  intoxica- 
tion, when  he  "  fell  to  weeping,  and  to  various  passions,  which 
kept  them  to  midnight."  In  public  he  maintained  a  strict  appear- 
ance of  virtue,  and  never  allowed  any  person  whose  breath  smelt 
of  wine  to  enter  his  presence.  On  one  occasion,  a  courtier  who 
had  shared  his  midnight  revel  indiscreetly  alluded  to  it  next  morn- 
ing. The  sultan  gravely  examined  him  as  to  who  could  possibly 
have  been  the  companions  of  such  a  debauch,  and  bastinadoed  them 
so  severely  that  one  of  them  died. 

When  sober  Jahangir  tried  to  work  wisely  for  his  empire.  A 
chain  hung  down  from  the  citadel  to  the  ground,  and  communicated 
with  a  cluster  of  golden  bells  in  his  own  chamber,  so  that  every 
suitor  might  apprise  the  emperor  of  his  demand  for  justice,  without 
the  intervention  of  the  courtiers.  Many  European  adventurers 
repaired  to  his  court,  and  Jahangir  patronized  alike  their  arts  and 
their  religion.  In  his  earlier  years  he  had  accepted  the  new 
religion,  or  "  divine  faith  "  of  his  father  Akbar.  It  is  said  that 
on  his  accession  he  had  even  permitted  the  divine  honors  paid 
to  Akbar  to  be  continued  to  himself.  Jahangir's  first  wife  was  a 
Hindu  princess.  Figures  of  Christ  and  the  Virgin  Mary  adorned 
his  rosary;  and  two  of  his  nephews  embraced  Christianity  with 
his  approval. 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  119 

1627-1648 

On  the  news  of  his  father's  death,  Prince  Khurram  hurried 
north  from  the  Deccan,  and  proclaimed  himself  emperor,  as  Shah 
Jahan,  at  Agra  in  January,  1628.  He  put  down  forever  the  court 
faction  of  the  Empress  Nur  Jahan,  by  confining  her  to  private  life 
upon  a  liberal  allowance ;  and  by  murdering  his  brother,  Shahriyar, 
with  all  the  other  members  of  the  house  of  Akbar  who  might  be- 
come rivals  to  the  throne.  He  was  just  to  his  people,  blameless  in 
his  habits,  a  good  financier,  and  as  economical  as  a  magnificent 
court,  splendid  public  works,  and  distant  military  expeditions  could 
permit.  Under  Shah  Jahan  the  Mogul  empire  was  finally  shorn 
of  its  Afghan  province  of  Kandahar;  but  it  extended  its  conquests 
in  southern  India  or  the  Deccan,  and  raised  the  magnificent  build- 
ings in  northern  India  which  now  form  the  most  splendid  me- 
morials of  the  Mogul  dynasty.  After  a  temporary  occupation  of 
Balkh,  and  the  actual  reconquest  of  Kandahar  by  the  Delhi  troops 
in  1637,  Shah  Jahan  lost  much  of  his  Afghan  territories,  and  the 
province  of  Kandahar  was  severed  from  the  Mogul  empire  by  the 
Persians  in  1653.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Deccan,  the  kingdom 
of  Ahmadnagar,  to  which  Ellichpur  had  been  united  in  1572,  was 
at  last  annexed  to  the  Mogul  empire  in  1636;  Bidar  fort  was  taken 
in  1657;  while  the  two  other  of  the  five  kingdoms,  namely  Bijapur 
and  Golconda,  were  forced  to  pay  tribute,  although  not  finally  re- 
duced until  the  succeeding  reign  of  Aurangzeb.  The  Marathas  now 
appear  on  the  scene,  and  commenced,  unsuccessfully  at  Ahmad- 
nagar in  1637,  that  series  of  persistent  Hindu  attacks  which  were 
destined  in  the  next  century  to  break  down  the  Mogul  empire. 
The  imperial  princes,  Aurangzeb  and  his  brothers,  carried  on  the 
wars  in  southern  India  and  in  Afghanistan  for  their  father  Shah 
Jahan. 

Except  during  one  or  two  military  expeditions,  Shah  Jahan 
lived  a  magnificent  life  in  the  north  of  India.  At  Agra  he  raised 
the  exquisite  mausoleum  of  the  Taj  Mahal,  a  dream  in  marble,  "  de- 
signed by  Titans  and  finished  by  jewelers."  This  was  in  memory 
of  his  wife,  the  mother  of  his  fourteen  children,  who  died  in  1631. 
Her  name  was  Arjamand  Benu,  but  she  was  called  Mumtaz-i- 
Mahal,  or  "  exalted  of  the  palace."  The  Taj  was  long  in  building 
and  was  not  completed  until  1648.  His  pearl  mosque,  the  marble 
Moti  Mas j  id,  within  the  Agra  fort,  is  perhaps  the  purest  and 
loveliest  house  of  prayer  in  the  world.  Not  content  with  enrich- 
ing his  grandfather  Akbar's  capital  with  these  and  other  architec- 


120  INDIA 

1648-1658 

tural  glories,  Shah  Jahan  planned  the  retransfer  of  the  seat  of 
government  to  Delhi,  and  adorned  that  city  with  buildings  of  un- 
rivaled magnificence.  Its  great  mosque,  the  Jama  Mas j  id,  was  com- 
menced in  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign,  and  completed  in  the  tenth. 
The  palace  of  Delhi,  now  the  fort,  covered  a  vast  parallelogram, 
1600  feet  by  3200,  with  exquisite  and  sumptuous  buildings  in 
marble  and  fine  stone.  The  entrance  consists  of  a  deeply  recessed 
gateway  leading  into  a  vaulted  hall,  which  springs  up  two  stories 
high,  like  the  nave  of  a  gigantic  Gothic  cathedral,  375  feet  in 
length — "  the  noblest  entrance,"  says  Ferguson,  the  historian  of 
architecture,  "  to  any  existing  palace."  The  Diwan-i-Khas,  or  court 
of  private  audience,  overlooks  the  river,  a  masterpiece  of  delicate 
inlaid  work  and  poetic  design.  Shah  Jahan  spent  many  years  of 
his  reign  at  Delhi,  and  prepared  the  city  for  its  destiny  as  the  most 
magnificent  capital  in  the  world  under  his  successor  Aurangzeb. 
Exquisite  as  are  its  public  buildings,  the  manly  vigor  of  Akbar's 
red-stone  fort  at  Agra,  with  its  bold  sculptures  and  square  Hindu 
construction,  has  given  place  to  a  certain  effeminate  beauty  in  the 
marble  structures  of  Shah  Jahan. 

Under  Shah  Jahan,  the  Mogul  empire  attained  its  highest 
union  of  strength  with  magnificence.  His  son  and  successor, 
Aurangzeb,  added  to  its  extent,  but  at  the  same  time  sowed  the  seeds 
of  its  decay.  Akbar's  land  revenue  of  about  $95,000,000  had  been 
raised,  chiefly  by  new  conquest,  to  more  than  $120,000,000  under 
Shah  Jahan,  but  this  sum  included  Kashmir  and  five  provinces  in 
Afghanistan,  some  of  which  were  lost  during  his  reign.  The  land 
revenue  of  the  Mogul  empire  within  India  was  about  $114,000,000. 
The  magnificence  of  Shah  Jahan's  court  was  the  wonder  of  Euro- 
pean travelers.  His  peacock  throne,  with  its  tail  blazing  in  the  shift- 
ing natural  colors  of  rubies,  sapphires,  and  emeralds,  was  valued 
by  the  jeweler,  Tavernier,  at  more  than  $30,000,000. 

Akbar's  dynasty  lay  under  the  curse  of  rebellious  sons.  As 
Jahangir  had  risen  against  his  most  loving  father,  Akbar,  and  as 
Shah  Jahan  had  mutinied  against  Jahangir,  so  Shah  Jahan  in  his 
turn  suffered  from  the  intrigues  and  rebellions  of  his  family.  In 
1657  the  old  king  fell  ill;  and  Aurangzeb,  born  in  1618,  after  a 
treacherous  conflict  with  his  brethren,  deposed  his  father,  and  pro- 
claimed himself  emperor  in  1658.  The  unhappy  emperor  was  kept 
in  confinement  for  seven  years,  and  died  a  state  prisoner  in  the  fort 
of  Agra  in  1666. 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  121 

1658-1670 

Aurangzeb  proclaimed  himself  emperor  under  the  title  of 
Alamgir,  the  "conqueror  of  the  universe,"  and  reigned  until  1707. 
Under  Aurangzeb  the  Mogul  empire  reached  its  widest  limits,  but 
his  long  rule  of  forty-nine  years  merely  presents  on  a  more  magnifi- 
cent stage  the  usual  tragic  drama  of  a  Mogul  reign.  In  its  personal 
character,  it  began  with  his  rebellion  against  his  father;  consoli- 
dated itself  by  the  murder  of  his  brethren ;  and  darkened  to  a  close 
amid  the  mutinies,  intrigues,  and  jealousies  of  his  own  sons.  Its 
public  aspects  consisted  of  a  magnificent  court  in  northern  India; 
conquests  of  the  independent  Mohammedan  kings  in  the  south; 
and  wars  against  the  Hindu  powers,  which,  alike  in  Rajputana  and 
in  southern  India  or  the  Deccan,  were  gathering  strength  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  Mogul  empire. 

The  year  after  his  accession,  Aurangzeb  defeated  and  put  to 
death  his  eldest  brother,  the  noble  but  impetuous  Dara.  After 
another  twelve  months'  struggle,  he  drove  out  of  India  his  second 
brother,  the  self-indulgent  Shuja,  who  perished  miserably  among 
the  insolent  savages  of  Arakan.  His  remaining  brother,  the 
brave  young  Murad,  was  executed  in  prison  the  following  year, 
1661. 

Aurangzeb  had  from  boyhood  been  a  Mohammedan  of  the  stern 
puritan  type.  Having  now  killed  off  his  rival  brethren,  he  set  up 
as  an  orthodox  sovereign  of  the  strictest  sect  of  Islam,  while  his 
invalid  father,  Shah  Jahan,  lingered  on  in  prison,  mourning  over 
his  murdered  sons,  until  his  own  death. 

Aurangzeb  continued,  as  emperor,  that  persistent  policy  of 
the  subjugation  of  southern  India  which  he  had  brilliantly  com- 
menced as  his  father's  lieutenant.  Of  the  five  Mohammedan  king- 
doms of  the  Deccan,  Bidar  and  Ahmadnagar  with  Ellichpur,  had 
been  subdued  by  his  father,  Shah  Jahan,  or  had  fallen  to  his  arms, 
as  the  prince  in  command  of  the  imperial  armies,  before  his  acces- 
sion to  the  throne.  The  two  others,  Bijapur  and  Golconda,  strug- 
gled longer,  but  Aurangzeb  was  determined  at  any  cost  to  annex 
them  to  the  Mogul  empire.  During  the  first  half  of  his  reign,  or 
for  exactly  twenty-five  years,  he  waged  war  in  the  south  by  means 
of  his  generals  (1658-1683).  A  new  Hindu  power  had  arisen  in 
the  Deccan,  the  Marathas,  whose  history  will  be  traced  in  more 
detail  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

The  task  before  Aurangzeb's  armies  was  not  only  the  old 
one  of  subduing  the  Mohammedan  kingdoms  of  Bijapur  and  Gol- 


m  INDIA 

1670-1705 

conda,  but  also  the  new  one  of  crushing  the  quick  growth  of  the 
Hindu  or  Maratha  confederacy. 

During  a  quarter  of  a  century,  his  utmost  efforts  failed.  Bija- 
pur  and  Golconda  were  not  conquered.  In  1670  the  Maratha 
leader,  Sivaji,  levied  one-fourth  of  the  revenues,  as  tribute  from  the 
Mogul  provinces  in  southern  India;  and  in  1674  he  crowned  him- 
self an  independent  sovereign  at  Raigarh.  In  1 680-1 681  Aurang- 
zeb's  son,  Prince  Akbar,  having  rebelled  against  his  father,  joined 
the  Maratha  army.  Aurangzeb  felt  that  he  must  either  give  up 
his  magnificent  palace  in  the  north  for  a  soldier's  tent  in  the  Dec- 
can,  or  he  must  relinquish  his  most  cherished  scheme  of  conquering 
southern  India.  He  accordingly  prepared  an  expedition,  on  an 
unrivaled  scale  of  numbers  and  splendor,  to  be  led  by  himself. 
In  1683  he  arrived  at  the  head  of  his  grand  army  in  the  Deccan, 
and  spent  the  next  half  of  his  reign,  or  twenty-four  years,  in  the 
field  in  southern  India.  Golconda  and  Bijapur  fell  after  another 
severe  struggle,  and  were  finally  annexed  to  the  Mogul  empire 
in  1688. 

The  conquest  of  these  last  of  the  five  Mohammedan  kingdoms 
of  the  Deccan  only  left  the  arena  bare  for  the  operations  of  the 
Marathas.  Indeed,  the  attacks  of  the  Marathas  on  the  two  Mo- 
hammedan states  had  prepared  the  way  for  their  annexation  by 
Aurangzeb.  The  emperor  waged  war  during  the  remaining  twenty 
years  of  his  life  (1688-1707)  against  the  rising  Hindu  power  of 
the  Marathas.  Their  first  great  leader,  Sivaj  i,  had  proclaimed  him- 
self king  in  1674,  and  died  in  1680.  Aurangzeb  captured  his  son 
and  successor,  Sambhaji,  in  1689,  and  put  him  to  a  cruel  death; 
seized  the  Maratha  capital,  with  many  of  their  forts;  and  seemed 
in  the  first  year  of  the  new  century  to  have  almost  stamped  out  their 
existence ;  but,  after  a  guerrilla  warfare,  the  Marathas  again  sprang 
up  into  a  powerful  fighting  nation.  In  1705  they  recovered  their 
forts,  while  Aurangzeb  had  exhausted  his  health,  his  treasures,  and 
his  troops,  in  the  long  and  fruitless  struggle.  His  soldiery  murmured 
for  arrears,  and  the  emperor,  now  old  and  peevish,  told  the  mal- 
contents that  if  they  did  not  like  his  service  they  might  quit  it,  while 
he  disbanded  some  of  his  cavalry  to  ease  his  finances. 

Meanwhile  the  Marathas  were  pressing  hungrily  on  the  im- 
perial camp.  The  grand  army  of  Aurangzeb  had  grown  during  a 
quarter  of  a  century  into  an  unwieldy  capital.  Its  movements  were 
slow,  and  incapable  of  concealment.    If  Aurangzeb  sent  out  a  rapid 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  123 

1662-1705 

small  expedition  against  the  Marathas,  who  plundered  and  insulted 
the  outskirts  of  his  camp,  they  cut  it  to  pieces.  If  he  moved  out 
against  them  in  force,  they  vanished.  His  own  soldiery  feasted 
with  the  enemy,  who  prayed,  with  mock  ejaculations,  for  the  health 
of  the  emperor  as  their  best  friend. 

In  1706  the  grand  army  was  so  disorganized  that  Aurangzeb 
opened  negotiations  with  the  Marathas.  He  even  thought  of  sub- 
mitting the  imperial  or  Mogul  provinces  to  their  tribute;  but  the 
insolent  exultation  of  the  Maratha  chiefs  led  to  the  treaty  being 
broken  off;  and  Aurangzeb,  in  1706,  found  shelter  in  Ahmadnagar, 
where  he  died  on  March  3,  1707,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  reign  and 
the  eighty-ninth  of  his  life.  Dark  suspicion  of  his  sons'  loyalty,  and 
just  fears  lest  they  should  subject  him  to  the  cruel  fate  which  he 
had  inflicted  on  his  father,  left  him  solitary  in  his  last  days.  On  the 
approach  of  death  he  gave  utterance  in  broken  sentences  to  his 
worldly  counsels  and  adieus,  mingled  with  terror  and  remorse,  and 
closing  in  an  agony  of  desperate  resignation :  "  Come  what  may, 
I  have  launched  my  vessel  on  the  waves.  Farewell!  Farewell! 
Farewell ! " 

The  conquest  of  the  Deccan  or  southern  India  was  the  one 
inflexible  purpose  of  Aurangzeb's  life,  and  has  therefore  been  dealt 
with  here  in  a  continuous  narrative.  In  the  north  of  India  great 
events  had  also  transpired.  His  general  Mir  Jumla  led  the  im- 
perial troops  as  far  as  Assam,  the  extreme  eastern  province  of  India 
in  1662,  but  amid  the  pestilential  swamps  of  the  rainy  season  his 
army  melted  away,  its  supplies  were  cut  off,  and  its  march  was 
surrounded  by  swarms  of  natives,  who  knew  the  country  and  were 
accustomed  to  the  climate.  Mir  Jumla  succeeded  in  extricating 
the  main  body  of  his  troops,  but  died  of  exhaustion  and  a  broken 
heart  before  he  reached  Dacca,  in  the  Bengal  delta. 

In  the  northwest  of  India  Aurangzeb  was  not  more  fortunate. 
During  his  time  the  Sikhs,  a  theistic  and  military  sect  of  Hindus, 
were  growing  into  a  power,  but  it  was  not  till  the  succeeding  reigns 
that  they  commenced  the  series  of  operations  which  in  the  end 
wrested  the  Punjab  from  the  Mogul  empire.  Aurangzeb's  bigotry 
arrayed  against  him  all  the  Hindu  princes  and  peoples  of  northern 
India.  He  revived  the  jaziah,  or  poll-tax  on  non-Mussulmans,  in 
1677;  drove  the  Hindus  out  of  the  administration;  and  oppressed 
the  widow  and  children  of  his  father's  faithful  Hindu  general, 
Jaswant  Singh.     A  local  sect  of  Hindus  in  northern  India  was 


124  INDIA 

1676-1705 

persecuted  into  rebellion  in  1676;  and  in  1677,  the  Rajput  states 
combined  against  him.  The  emperor  waged  a  protracted  war 
against  them,  at  one  time  devasting  Rajputana,  at  another  time 
saving  himself  and  his  army  from  extermination  only  by  a  stroke 
of  genius  and  rare  presence  of  mind.  In  1680,  his  rebel  son, 
Prince  Akbar,  went  over  to  the  Rajputs  with  his  division  of  the 
Mogul  or  imperial  army.  From  that  year  the  permanent  alienation 
of  the  Rajputs  from  the  Mogul  empire  dates;  and  the  Hindu 
chivalry,  which  had  been  a  source  of  strength  to  Akbar  the  Great, 
became  an  element  of  ruin  to  Aurangzeb  and  his  successors.  The 
emperor  pillaged  and  slaughtered  throughout  the  Rajput  states 
of  Jaipur,  Jodhpur,  and  Udaipur.  The  Rajputs  retaliated  by  ravag- 
ing the  Mohammedan  provinces  of  Malwa,  defacing  the  mosques, 
insulting  the  mullas,  or  priests  of  Islam,  and  burning  the  Koran. 
In  1 68 1  the  emperor  patched  up  a  peace  in  order  to  allow  him  to 
lead  the  grand  army  into  the  Deccan,  from  which  he  was  destined 
never  to  return.  Akbar's  policy  of  conciliating  the  Hindus,  and 
welding  them  into  one  empire  with  his  Mohammedan  subjects,  came 
to  an  end  under  Aurangzeb. 

All  northern  India  except  Assam,  and  the  greater  part  of 
southern  India,  paid  revenue  to  Aurangzeb.  His  Indian  provinces 
covered  nearly  as  large  an  area  as  do  those  of  the  British  empire 
at  the  present  day,  although  their  dependence  on  the  central  govern- 
ment was  less  direct.  From  these  provinces  his  land  revenue 
demand  is  returned  at  from  $124,000,000  to  $212,000,000,  a  sum 
which  represented  at  least  three  times  the  purchasing  power  of  the 
land  revenue  of  British  India  at  the  present  day ;  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  enormous  demand  of  $212,000,000  was  fully  realized 
during  any  series  of  years,  even  at  the  height  of  Aurangzeb's 
power,  before  he  left  Delhi  for  his  long  southern  wars.  It  was 
estimated  at  only  $165,000,000  in  the  last  year  of  his  reign,  after  his 
absence  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  the  Deccan.  Fiscal  oppressions 
led  to  evasions  and  revolts ;  and  one  or  other  of  the  provinces  was  al- 
ways in  open  war  against  the  emperor.  The  official  standard  return 
of  Aurangzeb's  land  revenue  was  about  $195,000,000,  and  this  re- 
mained the  nominal  demand  in  the  accounts  of  the  central  exchequer 
during  the  next  half-century,  notwithstanding  that  the  empire  had 
fallen  to  pieces.  When  the  Afghan  invader,  Ahmad  Shah  Durani, 
entered  Delhi  in  1761,  the  treasury  officers  presented  him  with  a 
statement  showing  the  land  revenue  of  the  empire  at  more  than 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  125 

1705-1712 

$195,000,000.  The  highest  land  revenue  of  Aurangzeb,  after  his 
annexations  in  southern  India,  and  before  his  final  reverses,  was 
returned  at  $212,000,000,  of  which  nearly  $209,000,000  were  from 
Indian  provinces,  and  the  remainder  from  Kashmir  and  Kabul. 
The  total  revenue  of  the  Mogul  empire  under  Aurangzeb,  from  all 
sources,  was  estimated  in  1695  at  $440,000,000,  and  in  1697  at 
$424,000,000.  The  gross  taxation  levied  from  British  India,  de- 
ducting the  opium  excise,  which  is  paid  by  the  Chinese  consumer, 
averaged  $185,000,000  during  the  ten  years  ending  1883. 

Aurangzeb  tried  to  live  the  life  of  a  model  Mohammedan 
emperor.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  Aurangzeb  with  his  famous 
European  contemporary,  Louis  XIV.,  for  the  length  of  his  reign, 
for  the  half  century  of  ruinous  wars,  for  the  policy  of  extreme 
centralization,  for  the  ceaseless  toil  of  the  monarch  in  the  personal 
government  of  his  realm,  for  his  intolerance  and  persecution  of  the 
Hindus  corresponding  with  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes 
and  the  persecution  of  the  Huguenots,  and  for  the  helpless  state  in 
which  he  left  his  realm.  He  might  have  said  with  the  Grand 
Monarch,  "  L'etat,  c'est  moi."  Magnificent  in  his  public  appear- 
ances, simple  in  his  private  habits,  diligent  in  business,  exact  in  his 
religious  observances,  an  elegant  letter-writer,  and  ever  ready  with 
choice  passages  alike  from  the  poets  and  from  the  Koran,  his  life 
would  have  been  a  blameless  one,  if  he  had  had  no  father  to  depose, 
no  brethren  to  murder,  and  no  Hindu  subjects  to  oppress.  His 
bigotry  made  an  enemy  of  everyone  who  did  not  share  his  own 
faith;  and  the  slaughter  of  his  kindred  compelled  him  to  intrust 
his  whole  government  to  strangers.  The  Hindus  never  forgave 
him;  and  the  Sikhs,  the  Rajputs,  and  the  Marathas,  immediately 
after  his  reign,  began  to  close  in  upon  the  empire.  His  Moham- 
medan generals  and  viceroys,  as  a  rule,  served  him  well  during 
his  vigorous  life;  but  at  his  death  they  usurped  his  children's 
inheritance. 

The  succeeding  emperors  were  puppets  in  the  hands  of  the 
too  powerful  soldiers  or  statesmen  who  raised  them  to  the  throne, 
controlled  them  while  on  it,  and  killed  them  when  it  suited  their 
purposes  to  do  so.  The  subsequent  history  of  the  empire  is  a  mere 
record  of  ruin.  For  a  time  Mogul  emperors  still  ruled  India  from 
Delhi ;  but  of  the  six  immediate  successors  of  Aurangzeb,  Bahadur 
Shah  (1707-17 1 2)  and  Johander  Shah  (1712)  were  under  the 
control  of  an  unscrupulous  general,  Zul-fikar  Khan,  while  the  four 


126  INDIA 

1712-1751 

others,  from  171 2  to  1720,  were  the  creatures  of  a  couple  of  Sayyid 
adventurers  who  well  earned  their  title  of  the  "  king-makers." 

From  the  year  1720  the  breaking  up  of  the  empire  took  a 
more  open  form.  Chin  Kulick  Khan,  who  had  received  the  title 
of  Nizam-ul-Mulk  Asof  Jah  from  the  Mogul  emperor,  by  a  series 
of  intrigues  and  campaigns  made  himself  independent  ruler  of  the 
viceroyalty  of  the  Deccan  which  had  been  intrusted  to  him,  about 
1720  to  1724.  His  successors  continue  to  rule  at  Haidarabad  under 
the  title  of  nizam.  Saadat  Ali  Khan,  a  Persian  Shiah,  who  had 
risen  to  the  post  of  wazir,  or  prime  minister  of  the  empire,  prac- 
tically established  his  own  dynasty  as  the  nawab  wazir  of  Oudh, 
of  which  place  he  had  been  appointed  governor  in  1732.  He  died 
in  1743  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son-in-law,  Safdar  Jang,  whose 
son  Shuja-ud-daula  ruled  from  1753  to  1775  and  was  defeated  in 
the  battle  of  Baxar  in  1764.  In  Bengal,  the  nawab  or  governor, 
Murshid  Kuli  Khan,  sometimes  called  Jafar  Khan,  or  Brahman, 
make  his  province  practically  independent  during  his  rule  from 
1704  to  1725. 

The  Hindu  subjects  of  the  empire  were  at  the  same  time 
asserting  their  independence.  The  Sikh  sect  in  the  Punjab  was 
driven  by  the  oppression  of  the  Delhi  emperors  into  revolt  in  1710, 
and  was  mercilessly  crushed  by  the  Sayyids,  six  years  later.  The 
indelible  memory  of  the  cruelties  then  inflicted  by  the  Mogul  troops 
nerved  the  Sikh  nation  with  that  hatred  to  Delhi  which  served 
the  British  cause  so  well  in  1857.  Their  leader,  Banda,  was  carried 
about  in  an  iron  cage,  tricked  out  in  the  mockery  of  imperial 
robes,  with  scarlet  turban  and  cloth  of  gold.  His  son's  heart  was 
torn  out  before  his  eyes,  and  thrown  in  his  face.  He  himself  was 
then  pulled  to  pieces  with  red-hot  pincers;  and  the  Sikhs  were 
exterminated  like  mad  dogs.  The  Hindu  princes  of  Rajputana 
were  more  fortunate.  Ajit  Singh  of  Jodhpur  asserted  his  independ- 
ence, and  Rajputana  practically  severed  its  connection  with  the 
Mogul  empire  in  171 5.  The  Marathas  having  enforced  their  claim 
for  tribute  throughout  southern  India,  burst  through  the  Vindhyas 
into  the  north,  and  obtained  from  the  Delhi  emperors  the  cession  of 
Malwa  (1749)  and  Orissa  ( 1751 ),  with  an  imperial  grant  of  tribute 
from  Bengal  (1751). 

While  the  Mohammedan  governors  and  Hindu  subjects  of  the 
empire  were  thus  becoming  independent  of  the  Delhi  emperors,  two 
hew  sets  of  external  enemies  appeared;  one  set  from  central  Asia, 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  127 

1739-1757 

the  other  set  from  the  sea.  In  1739,  Nadir  Shah,  who  from  a 
robber  chieftain  had  become  the  commander  of  the  Persian  army 
and  in  1736  the  usurper  of  the  throne  of  Persia,  swooped  down  on 
India,  with  his  destroying  host,  and,  after  a  massacre  in  the  streets 
of  Delhi  and  a  fifty-eight  days'  sack,  returned  through  the  north- 
western passes  with  a  booty  estimated  at  $155,000,000.  The  de- 
stroying host  of  the  Persian  king  was  succeeded  by  a  series  of 
invasions  from  Afghanistan.  Six  times  between  1747  and  1767  the 
Afghans  burst  through  the  passes  under  Ahmad  Shah  Durani,  pil- 
laging, slaughtering,  and  then  scornfully  retiring  to  their  homes 
with  the  plunder  of  the  Mogul  empire.  Ahmad  was  born  about 
1724,  the  son  of  the  hereditary  chief  of  the  Abdali  tribe  of  Afghans. 
From  1738  to  1747  he  was  in  the  service  of  Nadir  Shah,  after  whose 
assassination  in  1747  he  made  his  way  to  Kandahar  and  had  himself 
crowned  shah  or  king,  and  changed  his  tribal  name  to  Durani. 
He  died  in  1773.  In  1738,  Kabul,  the  last  Afghan  province  of  the 
Mogul,  was  severed  from  Delhi;  and,  in  1752,  Ahmad  Shah  ob- 
tained the  cession  of  the  Punjab  from  the  miserable  emperor.  The 
cruelties  inflicted  upon  Delhi  and  northern  India  during  these  six 
Afghan  invasions  form  an  appalling  tale  of  bloodshed  and  wanton 
cruelty.  The  wretched  capital  opened  her  gates,  and  was  fain  to 
receive  the  Afghans  as  guests.  Yet  in  1757  it  suffered  for  six  weeks 
every  enormity  which  a  barbarian  army  can  inflict  upon  a  prostrate 
foe.  Meanwhile  the  Afghan  cavalry  were  scouring  the  country, 
slaying,  burning,  and  mutilating,  in  the  meanest  hamlet  as  in  the 
greatest  town.  They  took  especial  delight  in  sacking  the  holy  places 
of  the  Hindus,  and  murdering  the  defenseless  votaries  at  the  shrines. 
A  single  example  must  suffice  to  show  the  miseries  inflicted 
by  the  invaders  of  India  from  the  northwest.  A  horde  of  25,000 
Afghan  horsemen  swooped  down  upon  the  sacred  city  of  Muttra 
during  a  festival,  while  it  was  thronged  with  peaceful  Hindu  pil- 
grims engaged  in  their  devotions.  "  They  burned  the  houses," 
says  the  Tyrolese  Jesuit  Tieffenthaler,  who  was  in  India  at  that 
time,  "  together  with  their  inmates,  slaughtering  others  with  the 
sword  and  the  lance ;  haling  off  into  captivity  maidens  and  youths, 
men  and  women.  In  the  temples  they  slaughtered  cows  [the 
sacred  animal  of  the  Hindus]  and  smeared  the  images  and  pave- 
ment with  the  blood."  The  borderland  between  Afghanistan  and 
India  lay  silent  and  waste;  indeed,  districts  far  within  the  Indian 
frontier,  which  had  once  been  densely  inhabited,  and  which  are 


128  INDIA 

1752-1761 

now  again  thickly  peopled,  were  swept  bare  of  inhabitants.  Thus 
Gujranwala,  the  seat  of  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Punjab  in  Bud- 
dhist times,  was  utterly  depopulated.  Its  present  inhabitants  are 
immigrants  of  comparatively  recent  date.  The  district,  which  was 
stripped  of  its  inhabitants  in  the  eighteenth  century,  has  now  a  new 
population  of  a  million. 

The  other  set  of  invaders  came  from  over  the  sea.  In  the 
wars  between  the  French  and  English  in  southern  India,  the  last 
vestiges  of  the  Delhi  authority  in  the  Karnatik  disappeared  (1748- 
1761)  ;  while,  as  a  result  of  Maja  Muroia's  victory  at  Baxar  in  1764, 
Bengal,  Behar,  and  Orissa  were  handed  over  to  the  English  by  an 
imperial  grant  in  1765.  The  British  obtained  these  three  fertile 
provinces  as  the  nominee  of  the  emperor ;  but  the  battle  of  Panipat 
had  already  reduced  the  throne  of  Delhi  to  a  shadow.  That  battle 
was  fought  on  January  6,  1761,  between  the  Afghan  invader 
Ahmad  Shah  and  the  Maratha  powers,  on  the  memorable  plain  of 
Panipat  on  which  Babar  and  Akbar  had  twice  won  the  sovereignty 
of  India.  The  Afghans  defeated  the  Marathas;  but  although  the 
Mohammedans  could  still  win  victories,  they  could  no  longer  rule 
India.  During  the  anarchy  which  followed,  the  British  patiently 
built  up  a  new  power  out  of  the  wreck  of  the  Mogul  empire.  Pup- 
pet emperors  continued  to  reign  at  Delhi  over  a  numerous  seraglio, 
under  such  lofty  titles  as  Akbar  II.  or  Alamgir  II.,  but  their  power 
was  confined  to  the  palace,  while  Marathas,  Sikhs,  and  Englishmen 
were  fighting  for  the  sovereignty  of  India.  The  last  of  these  pen- 
sioned Mogul  kings  of  Delhi  emerged  for  a  moment  as  a  rebel 
during  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  and  died  a  state  prisoner  in  Rangoon, 
the  capital  of  British  Burma,  in  1862. 

Akbar  had  rendered  a  great  empire  possible  in  India  by  con- 
ciliating the  native  Hindu  races.  He  thus  raised  up  a  powerful 
third  party,  consisting  of  the  native  military  peoples  of  India,  which 
enabled  him  alike  to  prevent  new  Mohammedan  invasions  from 
central  Asia,  and  to  keep  in  subjection  his  own  Mohammedan 
governors  of  provinces.  Under  Aurangzeb  and  his  miserable  suc- 
cessors this  wise  policy  of  conciliation  was  given  up.  Accordingly, 
new  Mohammedan  hordes  soon  swept  down  from  Afghanistan ;  the 
Mohammedan  governors  of  Indian  provinces  set  up  as  independent 
potentates:  and  the  warlike  Hindu  races,  who  had  helped  Akbar 
to  create  the  Mogul  empire,  became,  under  his  foolish  posterity, 
the  chief  agents  of  its  ruin. 


MOGUL     DYNASTY  129 

1761 

Before  the  British  appeared  as  conquerors,  the  Mogul  empire 
had  broken  up.  Their  final  and  most  perilous  wars  were  neither 
with  the  Delhi  king,  nor  with  his  revolted  Mohammedan  viceroys, 
but  with  the  two  Hindu  confederacies,  the  Marathas  and  the  Sikhs. 
Mohammedan  princes  fought  against  them  in  Bengal,  in  the  Kar- 
natik,  and  in  Mysore;  but  the  longest  opposition  to  the  British 
conquest  of  India  came  from  the  Hindus.  Their  last  Maratha  war 
dates  as  late  as  1818,  and  the  Sikh  confederation  was  overcome 
only  in  1849. 


Chapter  XI 

THE   MARATHAS.     1650-1818 

A  BOUT  the  year  1634  a  Maratha  soldier  of  fortune,  Shahji 
f-\  Bhonsla  by  name,  began  to  play  a  conspicuous  part  in  south- 
X  JLern  India.  He  fought  on  the  side  of  the  two  independent 
Mohammedan  states,  Ahmadnagar  and  Bijapur,  against  the  Mo- 
guls; and  left  a  band  of  followers,  together  with  a  military  fief, 
to  his  son  Sivaji,  born  in  1627.  Sivaji  formed  a  national  party  out 
of  the  Hindu  tribes  of  the  Deccan,  a  native  Hindu  party  which  was 
opposed  alike  to  the  imperial  armies  from  the  north,  and  to  the 
independent  Mohammedan  kingdoms  of  the  south.  There  were 
thus,  from  1650  onward,  three  powers  in  the  Deccan:  first,  the 
ever-invading  troops  of  the  Delhi  empire ;  second,  the  forces  of  the 
two  remaining  independent  Mohammedan  states  of  southern  India, 
Ahmadnagar  and  Bijapur;  third,  the  military  organization  of  the 
local  Hindu  tribes,  which  ultimately  grew  into  the  Maratha  con- 
federacy. 

During  the  eighty  years'  war  of  Shah  Jahan  and  Aurangzeb, 
with  a  view  to  the  conquest  of  the  independent  Mohammedan  king- 
doms in  southern  India  (1627-1707),  this  third  or  Hindu  party 
fought  sometimes  for  the  Delhi  emperors,  sometimes  for  the  in- 
dependent Mohammedan  kingdoms,  and  obtained  a  constantly  in- 
creasing importance.  The  Mogul  armies  from  the  north,  and  the 
independent  Mohammedan  kingdoms  of  the  south,  gradually  ex- 
terminated each  other.  Being  foreigners,  they  had  to  recruit  their 
exhausted  forces  from  outside.  The  Hindu  or  Maratha  confederacy 
drew  its  inexhaustible  native  levies  from  the  wide  tract  known 
as  Maharashtra,  stretching  from  the  Berars  in  central  India  to  near 
the  south  of  the  Bombay  presidency.  The  Marathas  were  therefore 
courted  alike  by  the  imperial  generals  from  Delhi  and  by  the 
independent  Mohammedan  kingdoms  of  the  Deccan.  Those  king- 
doms, with  the  help  of  the  Marathas,  long  proved  a  match  for  the 
imperial  troops;  but  no  sooner  were  the  Delhi  armies  driven  back, 

130 


THEMARATHAS  131 

1650-1680 

than  the  Marathas  proceeded  to  despoil  the  independent  Mus- 
sulman kingdoms.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Delhi  generals,  when 
allied  with  the  Marathas,  could  overpower  the  Mohammedan  states. 

Sivaji,  the  great  Maratha  leader,  saw  the  strength  of  his  posi- 
tion, and,  by  a  life  of  treachery,  assassination,  and  hard  fighting, 
he  won  for  the  Marathas  the  practical  supremacy  in  southern 
India.  As  a  basis  for  his  operations,  he  perched  himself  safe  in 
almost  impregnable  hill  forts  among  the  Western  Ghats.  His 
troops  consisted  of  Hindu  spearmen,  mounted  on  hardy  ponies. 
They  were  the  peasant  proprietors  of  southern  India,  and  they 
could  be  dispersed  or  promptly  called  together  according  to  the 
season  of  the  agricultural  year.  Except  at  seed  time  and  harvest, 
they  were  always  at  leisure  for  war.  Sivaji  had  therefore  the  com- 
mand of  an  unlimited  body  of  men,  without  the  expense  of  a  stand- 
ing army.  With  these  he  swooped  down  upon  his  enemies,  exacted 
tribute,  or  forced  them  to  come  to  terms.  He  then  paid  off  his 
soldiery  by  a  part  of  the  plunder,  and  retreated  with  the  lion's  share 
to  his  hill  forts.  In  1659  he  lured  the  general  of  the  independent 
Mohammedan  kingdom  of  Bijapur  into  an  ambush,  stabbed  him  at 
a  friendly  conference,  and  exterminated  his  army.  In  1662  Sivaji 
pillaged  as  far  as  the  extreme  north  of  the  Bombay  presidency,  and 
sacked  the  imperial  city  of  Surat.  On  this  occasion  the  English 
president  at  Surat,  Sir  George  Oxenden,  succeeded  in  beating  off 
the  Marathas  from  the  English  factory.  Surat  was  raided  by  the 
Marathas  several  times  in  succeeding  years,  but  the  European  fac- 
tories were  generally  able  to  escape  pillage.  In  1664  he  assumed 
the  title  of  raja  or  king,  with  the  royal  prerogative  of  coining 
money  in  his  own  name.  The  year  1665  found  Sivaji  helping  the 
Mogul  armies  against  the  independent  Mussulman  state  of  Bijapur. 
In  1666  he  was  induced  to  visit  Delhi.  Being  coldly  received  by 
the  Emperor  Aurangzeb,  and  placed  under  restraint,  he  escaped 
to  the  south  and  raised  the  standard  of  revolt.  In  1674  Sivaji 
enthroned  himself  with  great  pomp  at  Raigarh,  weighing  himself 
in  a  balance  against  gold,  and  distributing  his  weight  in  gold  among 
his  Brahmans.  He  sent  forth  his  hosts  as  far  as  the  Karnatik  in 
1676,  and  he  died  in  1680. 

The  Emperor  Aurangzeb  would  have  done  wisely  to  have  left 
the  independent  Mussulman  kings  of  the  Deccan  alone,  until  he 
had  crushed  the  rising  Maratha  power.  Indeed,  a  great  statesman 
would  have  buried  the  old  quarrel  between  the  Mohammedans  of 


132  INDIA 

1680-1740 

the  north  and  south,  and  would  have  united  the  whole  force  of 
Islam  against  the  Hindu  confederacy,  which  was  rapidly  growing 
to  be  the  strongest  power  in  the  Deccan;  but  the  fixed  resolve  of 
Aurangzeb's  life  was  to  annex  to  Delhi  the  Mohammedan  king- 
doms of  southern  India.  By  the  time  he  had  carried  out  this 
scheme  he  had  wasted  his  armies  and  left  the  Mogul  empire  ready 
to  break  into  pieces  at  the  first  touch  of  the  Maratha  spear. 

Sambhaji  succeeded  his  father,  Sivaji,  in  1680,  and  ruled  till 
1689.  His  reign  was  spent  in  wars  against  the  Portuguese  settle- 
ments on  the  southwestern  coast  of  India,  and  against  the  armies 
of  the  Mogul  empire.  In  1689  Aurangzeb  captured  him,  blinded 
his  eyes  with  a  red-hot  iron,  cut  out  the  tongue  which  had  blas- 
phemed the  Prophet,  and  struck  off  his  head.  His  son,  Sahu,  then 
six  years  of  age,  was  also  captured  and  kept  a  prisoner  till  the  death 
of  Aurangzeb.  In  1707  he  was  restored,  on  acknowledging  al- 
legiance to  Delhi ;  but  his  long  captivity  among  the  Moguls  left  him 
only  half  a  Maratha.  He  wasted  his  life  in  his  seraglio,  and 
resigned  the  government  of  his  territories  to  his  Brahman  minister, 
Balaji  Vishwanath,  who  held  the  title  of  peshwa  from  171 2  to  1720. 
This  office  of  peshwa  or  prime  minister  became  hereditary,  and  the 
power  of  the  peshwa  superseded  that  of  the  Maratha  kings.  The 
royal  family  of  Sivaji  only  retained  the  little  principalities  of  Satara 
and  Kolhapur.  Satara  lapsed  to  the  British,  for  want  of  a  direct 
heir,  in  1849.  Kolhapur  has  survived  through  British  clemency, 
and  is  now  ruled,  under  British  control,  by  the  representative  of 
Sivaji's  line. 

Meanwhile  the  peshwas  were  building  up  at  Poona  the  great 
Maratha  confederacy.  In  1718  Balaji,  the  first  peshwa,  marched 
an  army  to  Delhi  in  support  of  the  Sayyid  "  king-makers."  In  1720 
he  extorted  an  imperial  grant  of  the  tribute  of  the  Deccan.  The 
Marathas  were  also  confirmed  in  the  sovereignty  of  their  own 
southern  countries  round  Poona  and  Satara.  The  second  peshwa, 
Baji  Rao  (1721-1740),  converted  the  grant  of  the  tribute  of  the 
Deccan,  which  had  been  given  by  the  Delhi  emperor  in  1720,  into 
a  Maratha  sovereignty  over  the  Deccan.  The  second  peshwa  also 
wrested  the  province  of  Malwa  from  the  Mogul  empire  in  1736, 
together  with  the  country  on  the  northwest  of  the  Vindhyas,  from 
the  Narbada  to  the  Chambal.  In  1739  he  captured  Bassein  from 
the  Portuguese.  Malwa  was  finally  ceded  by  the  Delhi  emperor 
to  the  Marathas  in  1743. 


THE     MARATHAS  133 

1740-1761 

The  third  peshwa,  Balaji  Baji  Rao,  succeeded  in  1740,  and 
carried  the  Maratha  terror  into  the  heart  of  the  Mogul  empire.  The 
Deccan  became  merely  a  starting-point  for  a  vast  series  of  their 
expeditions  to  the  north  and  the  east.  Within  the  Deccan  itself 
the  peshwa  augmented  his  sovereignty,  at  the  expense  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan nizam  of  Haidarabad,  after  two  wars.  The  great  cen- 
ters of  the  Maratha  power  were  now  fixed  at  Poona  in  Bombay 
and  Nagpur  in  the  Central  Provinces.  In  1 741-1742,  a  general  of 
the  Nagpur  branch  of  the  Maratha  confederacy,  known  as  the 
Bhonslas,  swept  down  upon  Lower  Bengal;  but,  after  plundering 
to  the  suburbs  of  the  Mohammedan  capital  of  Murshidabad,  he  was 
driven  back  through  Orissa  by  the  nawab  Ali  Vardi  Khan.  The 
"  Maratha  ditch,"  or  semicircular  moat  around  part  of  Calcutta, 
records  to  this  day  the  panic  which  then  spread  throughout  Lower 
Bengal.  Next  year,  1743,  the  head  of  the  Nagpur  branch,  Raghuji 
Bhonsla,  invaded  Lower  Bengal  in  person.  From  this  date,  not- 
withstanding quarrels  between  the  Poona  and  Nagpur  Marathas 
over  the  spoil,  the  fertile  provinces  of  the  lower  Ganges  became  a 
plundering  ground  of  the  Bhonslas.  In  1751  they  obtained  a  for- 
mal grant  from  the  nawab  Ali  Vardi  Khan  of  the  tribute  of  Lower 
Bengal,  together  with  the  cession  of  Orissa.  In  northern  India 
the  Poona  Marathas  raided  as  far  as  the  Punjab,  and  drew  down 
upon  them  the  wrath  of  Ahmad  Shah  Durani,  the  Afghan,  who  had 
already  wrested  that  province  from  Delhi.  At  the  battle  of 
Panipat  in  1761  the  Marathas  were  overthrown  by  the  combined 
Mohammedan  forces  of  the  Afghans  and  of  the  northern  provinces 
which  still  nominally  remained  to  the  Mogul  empire. 

The  fourth  peshwa,  Madhu  Rao,  succeeded  to  the  Maratha 
sovereignty  in  this  moment  of  ruin  (1761).  The  Hindu  con- 
federacy seemed  doomed  to  destruction,  alike  by  internal  dissen- 
sions and  by  the  superior  force  of  the  Afghan  arms.  As  early  as 
1742,  the  Poona  and  Nagpur  branches  had  taken  the  field  against 
each  other,  in  their  quarrels  over  the  plunder  of  Bengal.  Before 
1 76 1  two  other  branches,  under  Holkar  and  Sindhia,  held  inde- 
pendent sway  in  the  old  Mogul  province  of  Malwa  and  the  neigh- 
boring tracts,  now  divided  between  the  states  of  Indore  and  Gwalior. 
At  Panipat,  Holkar,  the  head  of  the  Indore  branch,  deserted  the 
line  of  battle  the  moment  he  saw  the  tide  turn,  and  his  treachery 
rendered  the  Maratha  rout  complete.  The  peshwa  was  now  little 
more  than  the  nominal  head  of  the  five  great  Maratha  houses.    The 


134 


INDIA 


1761-1772 

word  peshwa  is  a  title.  Sindhia,  Holkar,  the  Bhonsla,  and  the  Gaek- 
war  are  the  heads  of  the  families  of  the  respective  names.  The  full 
form  of  their  title  is  the  Maharaja  Sindhia,  or  the  maharaja  of 
Gwalior,  etc.  These  five  Maratha  houses  or  dynasties  had  separate 
territories  and  armies.  Their  five  capitals  were  at  Poona,  the  seat 
of  the  peshwas ;  at  Nagpur,  the  capital  of  the  Bhonslas ;  at  Gwalior, 
the  residence  of  Sindhia;  at  Indore,  the  capital  of  Holkar;  and  at 


Baroda,  the  seat  of  the  rising  power  of  the  Gaekwars.  Madhu  Rao, 
the  fourth  peshwa,  just  managed  to  hold  his  own  against  the 
Mohammedan  princes  of  Haidarabad  and  Mysore,  and  against  the 
Bhonsla  branch  of  the  Marathas  in  Berar.  His  younger  brother, 
Narayan  Rao,  succeeded  him  as  fifth  peshwa  in  1772,  but  was 
quickly  assassinated.  The  peshwas  were  the  great  Maratha  power 
in  southern  India;  the  other  four  or  northern  Maratha  branches 


THE     MARATHAS  135 

1761-1817 

were  Sindhia  and  Holkar,  the  Bhonslas  of  Nagpur,  and  the  Gaek- 
wars  of  Baroda.  We  shall  briefly  relate  the  fortunes  of  these  four 
northern  branches. 

The  peshwa's  power  at  Poona  began  to  grow  weak,  as  that 
of  his  nominal  masters,  the  royal  descendants  of  Sivaji,  had  faded 
out  of  sight.  The  peshwas  came  of  a  high  Brahman  lineage,  while 
the  actual  fighting  force  of  the  Marathas  consisted  of  low-caste 
Hindus.  It  thus  happened  that  each  Maratha  general  who  rose 
to  independent  territorial  sway  was  inferior  in  caste  to,  although 
possessed  of  more  real  power,  than  the  peshwa,  the  titular  head  of 
the  confederacy.  Of  the  two  great  northern  houses,  Holkar  was 
descended  from  a  shepherd,  and  Sindhia  from  a  slipper-bearer.  The 
Marathas  under  Holkar  and  Sindhia  lay  quiet  for  a  time  after  their 
crushing  disaster  at  Panipat  in  1761;  but  within  ten  years  of  that 
fatal  day  they  had  established  themselves  throughout  Malwa,  and 
proceeded  to  invade  the  Rajput,  Jat,  and  Rohilla  provinces,  from 
the  Punjab  on  the  west  to  Oudh  in  the  east.  In  1765  the  titular 
emperor,  Shah  Alam,  had  sunk  into  a  British  pensioner,  after  his 
defeat  by  Sir  Hector  Munro  at  Baxar  in  1764.  In  1771  the 
emperor  gave  himself  over  to  the  Marathas.  Sindhia  and  Holkar 
nominally  maintained  him  on  his  throne  at  Delhi,  but  held  him  a 
virtual  prisoner  till  they  were  overthrown  in  the  second  Maratha 
war.  The  dynasties  of  both  Sindhia  and  Holkar  have  preserved 
to  the  present  day  their  rule  over  the  most  fertile  portion  of  Malwa. 

The  third  of  the  northern  Maratha  houses,  namely  the 
Bhonslas  of  Berar  and  the  Central  Provinces,  occupied  themselves 
with  raids  to  the  east.  Operating  from  their  base  at  Nagpur,  they 
had  extorted  in  1751  the  tribute  of  Lower  Bengal,  together  with 
the  sovereignty  of  Orissa.  The  acquisition  of  Lower  Bengal  by 
the  British  (1756-1765)  put  a  stop  to  their  raids.  In  1803  a  divi- 
sion of  the  English  army  drove  the  Bhonsla  Marathas  out  of  Orissa. 
In  1 81 7  their  power  was  finally  broken  by  the  last  Maratha  war. 
Their  headquarter  territories,  now  forming  the  Central  Provinces, 
were  administered  under  the  guidance  of  British  residents  from 
1817  to  1853.  On  the  death  of  the  last  Raghuji  Bhonsla  without  a 
direct  male  heir,  in  1853,  the  Nagpur  Maratha.  territories  lapsed 
to  the  British,  who  organized  them  as  the  Central  Provinces  in 
1861. 

The  fourth  of  the  northern  Maratha  houses,  namely,  Baroda, 
extended  its  power  throughout  Gujarat,  on  the  northwestern  coast 


136  INDIA 

1761-1818 

of  Bombay,  and  the  adjacent  peninsula  of  Kathiawar.  The  scat- 
tered but  wealthy  dominions  known  as  the  territories  of  the  Gaek- 
war  were  thus  formed.  Since  the  last  Maratha  war,  in  1817, 
Baroda  has  been  ruled  by  the  Gaekwars,  with  the  help  of  an 
English  resident.  In  1874,  the  reigning  Gaekwar  was  tried  by  a 
high  commission,  composed  of  three  European  and  three  native 
members,  on  the  charge  of  attempting  to  poison  the  resident,  and 
deposed;  but  the  British  government  refrained  from  annexing  the 
state,  and  raised  a  descendant  of  the  founder  of  the  family  from 
obscure  poverty  to  the  state  cushion. 

While  the  four  northern  houses  of  the  Marathas  were  pursuing 
their  separate  careers,  the  peshwa's  power  was  being  broken  to 
pieces  by  family  intrigues.  The  sixth  peshwa,  Madhu  Rao  Narayan, 
was  born  after  his  father's  death;  and  during  his  short  life  of 
twenty-one  years  the  power  remained  in  the  hands  of  his  minister, 
Nana  Farnavis.  Raghuba,  the  uncle  of  the  peshwa,  disputed  the 
birth  of  the  posthumous  child,  Madhu  Rao,  and  claimed  for  himself 
the  office  of  peshwa.  The  infant's  guardian,  Nana  Farnavis,  having 
called  in  the  French,  the  British  at  Bombay  sided  with  Raghuba. 
These  alliances  brought  on  the  first  Maratha  war,  1 779-1 781, 
ending  with  the  Treaty  of  Salbai  (1782).  That  treaty  ceded  the 
Islands  of  Salsette  and  Elephanta  near  Bombay,  together  with  two 
others  to  the  British,  secured  to  Raghuba  a  handsome  pension,  and 
confirmed  the  child-peshwa  in  his  sovereignty,  but  the  young  peshwa 
only  reached  manhood  to  commit  suicide  at  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

His  cousin,  Baji  Rao  II.,  succeeded  him  in  1795  as  the  seventh 
and  last  peshwa.  The  northern  Maratha  house  of  Holkar  now  took 
the  lead  among  the  Marathas,  and  forced  the  peshwa  to  seek  pro- 
tection with  the  English.  By  the  Treaty  of  Bassein  in  1802  Baji 
Rao  the  peshwa  agreed  to  receive  a  British  force  to  maintain  him 
in  his  dominions.  The  northern  Maratha  houses  combined  to  break 
down  his  treaty.  The  second  Maratha  war  followed  (1802-1804). 
General  Wellesley,  afterward  Duke  of  Wellington,  crushed  the 
forces  of  the  Sindhai  and  Nagpur  branches  of  the  Marathas  on  the 
field  of  Assaye  and  Argaum  in  the  south,  while  Lord  Lake  disposed 
of  the  Maratha  armies  at  Laswari  and  Delhi  in  the  north.  In  1804 
Holkar  was  completely  defeated  at  Dig.  These  campaigns  led  to 
large  cessions  of  territory  to  the  British,  to  the  final  overthrow 
of  French  influence  in  India,  and  to  the  restoration  of  the  titular 
Delhi  emperor  under  the  protection  of  the  English. 


THE  MARATHA  MAHARAJA  OF  HOLKAR  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  HIS  CAVALRY  IN  THE 
BATTLE  OF  ASSAYE 
Drawing  by  R,  Caton  Woodvillt 


THE     MARATHAS  137 

1818 

In  1817-1818,  the  peshwa,  Holkar,  and  the  Bhonsla  at  Nag- 
pur,  took  up  arms,  each  on  his  own  account,  against  the  British, 
and  were  defeated  in  detail.  That  war  broke  the  Maratha  power 
forever.  The  peshwa,  Baji  Rao,  surrendered  himself  to  the  British 
and  his  territories  were  annexed  to  the  Bombay  presidency.  The 
peshwa  remained  a  British  pensioner  at  Bithur,  near  Cawnpur  in 
northern  India,  on  a  magnificent  allowance,  till  his  death.  His 
adopted  son  grew  up  into  the  infamous  Nana  Sahib  of  the  Mutiny 
of  1857,  when  the  last  relic  of  the  peshwas  disappeared  from  the 
eyes  of  men. 


Chapter    XII 

EARLY  EUROPEAN  SETTLEMENTS.     1498-1800 

THE  Mohammedan  invaders  of  India  had  entered  from  the 
northwest.  The  Christian  conquerors  of  India  came  by 
the  sea  from  the  south.  Twenty-eight  years  lacking  a 
month  before  Babar's  famous  victory  at  Panipat  which  transformed 
the  history  of  India,  there  landed  on  the  Malabar  coast  of  India  a 
little  expedition  whose  arrival  was  fated  even  more  than  the  triumph 
of  the  Mogul  conqueror  to  alter  the  destinies  of  the  great  penin- 
sula and  to  make  the  date  1498  the  most  important  in  Indian 
history  since  the  departure  of  Alexander  the  Great  in  325  b.  c. 
The  tremendous  importance  in  the  history  of  both  India  and  Europe 
of  the  voyage  of  Vasco  da  Gama  has  ranked  it  with  Columbus's 
famous  voyage  of  discovery  six  years  earlier.  This  has  perhaps 
led  to  the  misconception  that  India  was  as  unknown  to  Europe  and 
of  as  little  importance  to  Europe  before  that  date  as  was  America. 
The  truth  is  far  otherwise,  for,  though  the  arms  of  the  Per- 
sians and  the  Greeks,  alone  among  the  nations  ruling  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean,  had  penetrated  to  India  before  the  days  of  the 
Portuguese,  the  trade  of  India  had  been  one  of  the  most  important 
factors  in  determining  the  course  of  empire  and  the  lines  of  his- 
torical development  in  western  Asia,  in  northern  Africa,  and  in 
Europe  from  prehistoric  times  downward.  As  far  back  as  the 
eye  of  the  historian  may  find  a  record  to  read,  memorials  of  Indian 
trade  are  discovered.  The  possession  of  the  trade  of  India  and  the 
East  was  not  the  least  important  factor  in  determining  the  rise  and 
fall  of  western  empires  in  the  pre-Christian  centuries  and  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  as  in  modern  times.  By  three  great  highways,  the 
strange  and  valued  products  of  the  Indies  for  thirty  centuries 
passed  from  the  confines  and  coasts  of  India  to  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean;  and  now  the  present  age  is  busy  raising  the  em- 
bargo of  four  centuries  from  the  three  ancient  highroads  of  the 
world's  most  valuable  commerce.  In  1869  the  opening  of  the  Suez 
Canal  revived  the  importance  of  the  Red  Sea  route  between  Europe 

138 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  139 

1498 

and  the  East;  more  recently  Russia's  Trans-Caucasian  and  Trans- 
Caspian  Railways  have  opened  roads  of  steel  and  steam  where 
once  the  caravan  crossed  the  deserts  of  central  Asia  with  the  mer- 
chandise of  India  and  sought  the  ports  of  the  Caspian  and  the 
Euxine;  and  the  projected  construction  of  the  extension  of  the 
Anatolian  Railroad  to  Bussorah  will  again  open  the  oldest  and 
most  historic  of  all  the  routes  of  Indian  trade,  the  Persian  Gulf- 
Syrian  line. 

The  Chaldeans  "  whose  cry  is  in  their  ships  "  enriched  Baby- 
lon with  the  traffic  of  the  East,  and  passed  it  on  up  the  river  valleys 
of  Mesopotamia  and  across  the  desert  to  the  marts  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  whence  the  Phoenicians,  the  lords  of  the  western  seas, 
distributed  the  eagerly  sought  goods  to  the  nations  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. The  fate  not  only  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria  and  of  Media 
and  Persia  was  affected  by  this  trade,  but  the  prosperity  and  the 
wreck  of  the  Hebrew  nation  might  almost  be  spoken  of  as  an  epi- 
sode in  the  history  of  this  great  trade  route.  Alexander  and 
Pompey  made  the  control  of  this  trade  route  for  the  first  time  a 
prize  of  European  empire.  When  the  headship  of  empire  passed 
from  Rome  to  Constantinople,  the  trade  of  the  East  became  a 
valued  perquisite  of  the  Byzantines.  The  rapid  spread  of  the 
Saracen  empire  in  the  seventh  century  restored  this  trophy  to  Asia ; 
and  to  the  splendor  of  Damascus  and  Bagdad,  India  was  a  notable 
contributor.  From  the  eleventh  century  onward,  the  gigantic  raids 
of  the  Turkish  and  Mogul  hordes  from  the  east,  and  the  pious  zeal 
of  the  Crusader  from  the  west,  interrupted  trade  by  this  route  and 
finally  the  spread  of  the  empire  of  the  Ottoman  Turk  led  to  its 
almost  complete  disuse  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  central  Asian  route,  while  free  from  the  perils  of  the  sea, 
was  still  a  tedious  and  dangerous  one  and  the  most  liable  to  in- 
terruption by  the  central  Asian  hordes.  There  is  evidence  of  the 
very  ancient  use  of  this  route  and  the  fabled  voyage  of  the  Argo- 
nauts at  least  indicates  the  existence  of  early  civilization  on  the 
shores  of  the  Euxine  and  the  presence  there  of  rich  prizes  worth  the 
seeking.  One  branch  of  this  central  Asian  route  touches  the  Cas- 
pian, where  some  of  the  trade  was  diverted  to  the  Volga,  but  most 
of  it  passed  by  Tiflis  to  the  Black  Sea.  Another  branch  of  the  route 
ran  by  Tabriz  and  the  Erzerum  direct  to  the  Euxine,  from  whose 
eastern  shores  the  bulk  of  the  trade  passed  to  Constantinople,  which 
was  the  great  emporium  where  Asia  and  Europe  exchanged  the 


140  INDIA 

1498 

commerce  of  this  route.  Some  of  the  trade  from  the  earliest  times 
crossed  the  sea  to  the  shores  of  the  Crimea,  whence  it  followed  the 
Don  and  the  Dneiper  to  the  northern  marts,  whither,  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  merchants  of  the  Hansa  came  to  traffic.  The  central 
Asian  route,  like  the  Persian  Gulf-Syrian  one,  was  closed  almost 
absolutely  by  the  Moguls  and  the  Turks.  It  is,  however,  of  in- 
terest to  note  that  in  the  days  of  Queen  Mary  an  Englishman, 
Anthony  Jenkinson,  who  had  reached  Russia  by  way  of  Archangel, 
followed  the  conquering  armies  of  Ivan  the  Terrible  down  to 
Astrakhan,  and  thence  pushed  on  into  central  Asia  as  far  as  Bok- 
hara (1558),  where  for  the  first  time  an  Englishman  beheld  natives 
of  India  who  had  come  thither  to  trade. 

To  which  dynasty  of  the  Pharaohs  the  credit  is  due  for  open- 
ing the  Red  Sea  route  to  India  is  past  finding  out,  but  no  doubt 
the  mariner  had  been  plying  from  the  Red  Sea  to  the  Malabar 
coast  for  a  thousand  years  before  the  great  Pharaoh  Necho  sought 
to  further  extend  Egyptian  trade  by  his  public  works  at  home  and 
by  the  expeditions  which  he  is  said  to  have  fitted  out  to  explore 
unknown  seas.  Three  centuries  later  the  Macedonian  conqueror 
founded  Alexandria  (332  b.  c.)  which  was  the  greatest  mart  of 
Indian  trade  in  the  Levant  from  the  days  of  the  Ptolemies  until  the 
Ottoman  forces  of  the  Sultan  Selim  I.  conquered  Egypt  in  1517. 
It  was  in  the  last  days  of  the  Ptolemies  that  the  pilot  Hippalus  dis- 
covered the  phenomenon  of  the  monsoons  which  enabled  the  sailor 
to  navigate  his  ship  intelligently  and  far  more  easily  across  the 
dangerous  Indian  Sea  and  furnished  such  a  stimulus  to  trade  that 
in  the  first  century  Pliny  reckoned  the  annual  value  of  the  Indian 
trade  at  more  than  55,000,000  sesterces,  or  $2,000,000.  At  a 
slightly  later  date,  the  existing  narrative  of  the  "  Circumnavi- 
gation of  the  Indian  Ocean  "  l  was  written  describing  this  route, 
while,  from  the  days  of  the  Byzantine  splendor  under  Justinian, 
dates  the  account  of  Cosmas  Indicopleustes  in  his  "  Christian  Topog- 
raphy Embracing  the  Whole  World,"  which  is  perhaps  the  most 
valuable  western  account  of  India  prior  to  the  thirteenth  century. 
The  Red  Sea  route  was  operated  by  Arab  traders  from  the  rise  of 
the  Saracen  empire  to  the  arrival  of  the  Portuguese  in  India 
and  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  in  Egypt.  From  Alexandria  the  dis- 
tributing trade  was  of  enormous  value  and  the  contest  for  its  con- 

1  Translated  in  J.  W.  McCrindle's  "  Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the  Eryth- 
rean  Sea." 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  141 

1498 

trol  is  the  story  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  cities  and  states  along  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  two  great  rivals  for  this  trade 
during  the  Middle  Ages  were  the  Genoese  and  the  Venetians.  Their 
trade  development  is  one  of  the  most  important  facts  of  the  age  of 
the  Crusades.  Gradually  the  Venetians  forged  ahead  of  their  rivals, 
though  the  fall  of  the  Latin  empire  of  Constantinople  in  1261  gave 
the  Genoese  practically  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  of  that  city  until 
its  capture  by  the  Ottoman  sultan  in  1453.  Venice  acquired  the 
major  share  of  the  trade  coming  by  the  Syrian  and  Red  Sea  routes, 
and  Alexandria  and  Famagusta  in  Cyprus  were  her  great  emporia 
in  the  Levant.  The  successive  triumphs  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  in 
the  Levant  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  gradually  ruined 
Venice,  and  her  humiliation  was  at  last  completed  by  the  loss  in 
1669  of  Candia,  the  last  outpost  of  her  great  trade  empire. 

The  wealth-giving  products  of  India,  China,  and  the  East 
were  thus  known  and  valued  in  the  West  before  the  days  of  Alex- 
ander, and  from  Alexander's  great  diffusion  of  Hellenism  till  the 
rise  of  the  new  Hellenism  in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  through  these 
long  ages,  had  Europe  been  entirely  ignorant  of  the  marvelous  land 
with  its  myriads  of  strange  peoples?  By  no  means,  for  in  three 
ways  there  filtered  through  to  the  inquiring  mediaeval  citizen  of  the 
West  enough  to  stimulate  the  curiosity  to  know  more.  That  the 
Greek,  the  Roman,  and  the  Byzantine  possessed  some  such  knowl- 
edge has  been  seen.  The  expulsion  of  the  Byzantines  from  Egypt 
and  Syria  broadened  rather  than  narrowed  the  channels  of  informa- 
tion. From  the  seventh  to  the  thirteenth  centuries  the  Saracen 
encouraged  both  trade  and  learning  as  well  as  conquest,  and  no 
doubt  many  an  observing  Arab  visited  India  in  those  days,  and  not 
a  few  have  left  some  record  of  their  observations.  Even  later,  an 
Arab  of  Tangier,  Ibn-Batuta,  resided  at  the  court  of  Moham- 
med Tughak  from  1334  to  1342,  and  left  an  account  of  his  ex- 
periences. 

Love  of  adventure  as  well  as  of  gain  stirred  in  the  hearts  of  the 
traders  of  Christian  Europe  and  now  and  then  some  venturesome 
one  extended  his  journey  into  the  wondrous  East,  and  occasionally 
one  came  back  to  tell  the  story  of  the  marvels.  Such  voyagers  were 
Marco  Polo,  the  Venetian,  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century; 
Nicolo  Conti,  another  Venetian  of  the  early  fifteenth  century ;  Atha- 
nasius  Nikitin,  a  Russian,  who  was  in  India  about  1470;  Hieronimo 
di  Santo  Stefano  of  Genoa,  who  was  in  India  from  1494  to  1499; 


142  INDIA 

1498 

and  finally  Ludovico  di  Varthema,  a  native  of  Bologna,  reached 
India  overland  and  spent  part  of  the  first  decade  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury in  India.  Christian  venture  has  often  kept  company  with  com- 
mercial venture,  and  close  upon  the  heels  of  the  Polos  went  a  fol- 
lower of  the  good  Saint  Francis  of  Assisi,  who  journeyed  through 
India  to  China,  where  he  became  Archbishop  of  Peking.  This 
valiant  friar,  John  of  Monte  Corvino,  was  followed  by  several  other 
Franciscans,  last  of  whom  to  record  his  story  was  John  de  Mari- 
gnolli,  who  passed  through  India  in  1347- 1349 — the  years  when 
the  Black  Death  was  devastating  Europe.  That  the  West  cared 
to  hear  about  the  East  is  abundantly  shown  by  the  writings  of  Sir 
John  Mandeville  and  their  popularity. 

The  revival  of  learning  with  its  widening  of  human  interests 
early  stimulated  a  desire  for  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  earth,  its 
lands,  its  seas,  and  its  peoples.  The  scholar  in  his  study  eagerly 
pored  over  the  pages  of  the  long-forgotten  geographical  treatises 
of  the  ancients,  such  as  that  of  Ptolemy  of  Alexandria.  Those  that 
went  down  to  the  sea  in  ships  sought  to  correct  their  imperfect 
charts  by  comparison  with  the  ancient  records,  and  the  spirit  of 
venture  stirred  in  them  to  visit  forgotten  shores,  to  penetrate  to 
lands  dimly  outlined  by  some  voyager  of  old,  and  even  to  find  some 
new  land  or  sail  some  new  sea. 

Not  Venice  and  Genoa  with  their  scholars,  navigators,  and 
merchant  princes  secure  in  their  advantageous  position  and  in  the 
monopoly  of  the  richest  trade  in  the  world,  but  Portugal,  hitherto 
unblest  with  scholar  or  mariner  or  merchant,  a  nation  shut  oft" 
from  the  Mediterranean  and  denied  participation  in  the  rich 
advantages  of  Italy,  a  land  whose  only  history  was  of  a  perpetual 
crusade  against  the  Moslem  for  mere  existence  as  a  nation,  brought 
forth  the  men  who  solved  the  problem  of  the  new  age  and  thereby 
turned  the  world's  activities  into  new  channels.  Venice  and  Genoa 
still  used  the  galley  with  its  oars  and  slaves  and  needed  no  better 
craft  on  the  land-locked  seas.  The  ocean  with  its  mighty  waves 
and  fearful  storms  demanded  a  vessel  of  far  different  character. 
The  Mediterranean  might  be  navigated  without  skillfully  devised 
instruments  such  as  were  essential  to  the  navigation  of  the  untra- 
versed  ocean.  Of  these  the  Italian  had  no  need;  the  Portuguese 
could  do  naught  without  newly  designed  ships  and  instruments, 
and  so  set  himself  at  the  problem  of  invention. 

As  the  merchant  and  banker  of  the  Italian  city  strove  to  main- 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  143 

1498 

tain  his  monopoly  by  throttling  every  attempt  at  competition  in  the 
South,  so  in  the  North  the  merchants  of  the  Hansa  gripped  the 
hardy  seafarers  of  the  North  so  tightly  in  their  clutches  that  the 
sons  of  the  vikings  well-nigh  forgot  the  ancestral  art  and  achieve- 
ment. England  and  France  fighting  their  frightful  Hundred 
Years'  War ;  Aragon  struggling  for  Sicilian  dominion ;  and  Castile 
still  facing  the  Mohammedan  in  Granada,  had  neither  time  nor 
energy  to  take  up  any  new  problem.  Portugal,  tucked  away  in  her 
corner  in  Europe,  had  ended  her  crusade  with  the  Mohammedan 
by  driving  him  far  from  her  borders  in  the  thirteenth  century ;  and 
by  the  victory  of  Aljubarrota  had  freed  herself  from  the  too 
solicitous  interest  of  Castile  in  her  welfare  in  1385.  So  in  the 
fifteenth  century  Portugal  alone  of  European  nations  had  the 
opportunity  and  the  freedom  from  other  cares  to  take  up  the  new 
problem.  The  old  crusading  spirit  moved  the  princes  and  people 
of  the  little  kingdom  to  follow  the  infidel  even  beyond  the  bounds 
of  the  peninsula,  and  in  141 5  John  the  Great,  the  victor  of  Aljubar- 
rota, carried  the  crusade  against  the  Moor  into  Africa,  and  there 
won  the  fortress  of  Ceuta.  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,  then  in 
his  twenty-first  year,  shared  in  this  enterprise,  and  until  his  death 
his  crusading  zeal  for  the  success  of  the  Christian  arms  and  the 
extension  of  the  Christian  faith  never  waned,  but  was  coupled  with 
and  inspired  by  his  desire  to  solve  the  problem  of  Africa.  Punish- 
ment of  the  infidel,  conversion  of  the  heathen,  and  the  acquisition 
of  trade  and  empire  for  Portugal  were  the  aims  of  Prince  Henry 
and  of  all  his  successors.  Prince  Henry  joined  to  his  princely 
private  fortune  the  wealth  of  the  Order  of  Christ  of  which  he  was 
grand  master,  and  in  141 8  he  turned  his  back  on  the  rest  of  the 
world  and  settled  at  Sagres,  the  promontory  at  the  extreme  south- 
west of  Portugal,  where  he  might  forever  face  the  problem  of  the 
unknown  ocean  which  washed  the  shores  of  unexplored  Africa — 
the  problem  to  which  the  forty-two  remaining  years  of  his  life  were 
devoted  in  unremitting  toil. 

The  revival  of  learning  with  its  awakening  of  interest  in  the 
geography  of  the  ancients  revived  some  old  problems.  What  was 
the  shape  of  the  earth?  What  was  the  character  and  extent  of  the 
Atlantic?  What  about  Africa — could  there  be  any  foundation  for 
the  often-scoffed  tradition  that  Pharaoh  Necho  had  sent  an  expedi- 
tion around  the  continent?  Some  unknown,  for  reasons  equally 
unknown,  gave  one  of  the  answers  to  this  latter  question  in  a  chart 


144  INDIA 

1498 

of  135 1,  the  "  Laurentian  Portulan  "  as  it  is  called,  which  actually 
delineated  with  essential  correctness  an  African  coast  extending 
from  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  around  to  the  Red  Sea.  Here  then,  in 
theory  at  least,  was  a  prize  to  stir  the  imagination  of  a  keen- 
minded  man  and  valorous  knight  like  Prince  Henry  and  to  nerve 
him  for  years  of  patient,  persistent  endeavor.  Beyond  Africa  was 
India,  and  there  might  be  a  sea  route  thither.  Geographer,  ship- 
carpenter,  and  sailor  labored  under  the  wise  direction  of  the  prince, 
who,  alone  among  princes  and  men,  is  surnamed  the  Navigator. 
Eighteen  degrees  of  African  coast  line  verified  was  the  net  result  of 
his  two  score  years  of  effort.  A  small  beginning  indeed,  but  he  had 
pointed  the  way,  had  immensely  improved  the  means  for  prosecu- 
ting the  enterprise,  and  had  gathered,  trained,  and  inspired  a  corps 
of  co-workers  and  disciples.  Not  only  Portuguese,  but  also  navi- 
gators from  other  lands  were  included;  Columbus,  a  Genoese, 
received  his  training  in  the  service  of  Alfonso  V.  and  John  II. 
Only  the  Navigator's  princely  position  enabled  him  to  defray  the 
enormous  cost  of  the  years  of  experiment,  and  amid  the  opposition 
of  a  superstitious  populace,  none  but  a  prince,  nay,  none  but  the 
monarch  himself  might  henceforth  direct  the  enterprise.  Alfonso 
V.  (1438-1481),  surnamed  the  African,  continued  his  uncle's 
work  and  handed  it  on  in  turn  to  his  son,  John  II.  (1481-1495), 
whose  political  sagacity  won  him  the  title  of  the  Perfect.  In  the 
twenty-sixth  year  after  the  death  of  Prince  Henry,  the  first  great 
triumph  was  won  by  Bartholomew  Diaz,  who  in  i486  pushed  far- 
ther down  the  coast  of  Africa  through  the  Sea  of  Darkness  than 
his  predecessors,  rounded  the  Cape  of  Storms  and  finally  anchored 
securely  eastward  of  Africa's  southernmost  cape,  auspiciously 
christened  by  John  the  Perfect,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

It  was  December  of  1487  when  Diaz  returned,  but  already  in 
the  previous  May,  the  king  had  dispatched  an  expedition  in  the 
opposite  direction,  in  anticipation  of  the  success  of  Diaz,  to  explore 
the  eastern  lands  and  seas  along  the  Red  Sea  route,  and  to  find 
Prester  John,  the  fabled  Christian  monarch  of  the  East,  and  secure 
his  cooperation  with  the  Portuguese  in  their  crusading  and  other 
enterprises.  Covilham  and  Paiva  journeyed  together  to  Aden  and 
there  parted,  the  one  for  India  and  the  other  for  Abyssinia  to  visit 
Prester  John.  Covilham,  the  first  Portuguese  to  visit  India,  not 
only  came  back  with  tales  of  this  success,  but  also  actually  managed 
on  his  return  voyage  to  visit  the  east  coast  of  Africa  as  far  south 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  145 

1498 

as  Sofala,  almost  reaching  Diaz's  most  easterly  point.  From  Cairo 
in  1490  Covilham  sent  back  this  valued  report  to  his  monarch  and 
then  plunged  once  more  into  the  East  to  do  the  work  of  his  com- 
panion who  had  perished.  Jealously  guarded  as  a  valued  member 
of  the  court  of  Alexander,  prince  of  Abyssinia,  he  lived  for  more 
than  thirty  years  practically  a  state  prisoner. 

Though  the  combined  efforts  of  Covilham  and  Diaz  had  fully 
proved  the  existence  of  the  long-sought  sea  route  to  India,  the  ulti- 
mate prize  of  actual  achievement  was  yet  to  be  won.  An  unkind 
fate  snatched  this  and  another  splendid  prize  from  the  Perfect 
King.  Even  before  Diaz  had  set  sail,  a  Genoese  adventurer  had 
tried  to  bargain  with  the  king  to  find  him  India  by  sailing  west- 
ward. John  II.,  busy  with  the  around-Africa  project,  gave  little 
heed  to  the  wild  scheme  of  Columbus,  and  bundled  him  off  to 
barter  his  precious  plan  at  other  courts.  Now  delay  and  mis- 
fortune postponed  from  year  to  year  the  expedition  that  was  to 
crown  all  the  efforts  with  success,  until  the  afflicted  monarch  had 
the  humiliation  of  seeing  his  Spanish  rivals  receive  from  the  hands 
of  the  despised  Genoese,  a  new  world,  which  for  the  nonce  men 
imagined  to  be  the  Indies.  Two  years  later  John  the  Perfect  was 
gathered  to  his  fathers  and  his  cousin  Emmanuel  the  Fortunate 
reigned  in  his  stead,  when  at  last  on  July  8,  1497,  Vasco  da  Gama's 
long-delayed  ships  sailed  down  the  Tagus  to  achieve  the  first 
European  voyage  to  India.  Portugal's  princes  alone  had  borne  the 
burden  and  heat  of  the  day  and  the  monarchs  of  Portugal  alone 
reaped  the  profit.  The  dynasty  of  John  the  Great  had  set  itself  the 
task,  and  was  now  to  master  the  problem,  and  to  give  Portugal  the 
enjoyment  of  the  rich  rewards  for  just  so  long  as  the  dynasty  of 
John  the  Great  ruled  at  Lisbon.  Eighty  years  of  effort  were  to  be 
followed  by  eighty-two  years  of  full  possession  and  profit.  What 
Henry  the  Navigator  started  to  find  in  14 18,  Emmanuel  the  For- 
tunate's  captain  discovered  in  1498,  and  Portugal  lost  after  Henry 
the  Cardinal,  the  last  legitimate  male  heir  of  John  the  Great,  sank 
into  his  grave  in  1580. 

The  Portuguese  from  the  beginning  understood  that  their 
explorations  were  opening  new  questions  in  world  politics,  and 
took  steps  to  legalize  fully  their  claim  to  the  results,  actual  and 
potential,  of  their  efforts.  International  law  was  an  unknown 
science  and  the  concert  of  the  powers  was  yet  to  be  imagined.  The 
mediaeval  theory  of  the  Papacy  still  swayed  the  minds  even  of 


146  INDIA 

1498 

monarchs  and  statesmen,  and  for  them  the  Pope  supplied  the  place 
of  international  law  and  the  concert  of  great  powers.  As  early 
as  June  18,  1452,  and  January  8,  1454,  Alfonso  V.  obtained  from 
Pope  Nicholas  V.  bulls  granting  to  Portugal  jurisdiction  over  the 
African  discoveries.  The  progress  of  discovery  and  especially  the 
achievement  of  Columbus  led  to  a  long  and  exceedingly  interesting 
diplomatic  contest  between  Spain  and  Portugal  over  the  delimita- 
tion of  their  respective  portions  of  the  unknown  world  which  was 
being  revealed.  The  Bulls  of  Demarcation  issued  by  Pope  Alex- 
ander VI.  on  May  3-4,  1493,  the  Treaty  of  Tordesillas  of  June  7, 
1494,  the  Badajoz  Conference  of  1524,  and  the  Treaty  of  Sara- 
gossa  in  1529  are  the  most  important  stages  in  the  long  struggle 
between  Spain  and  Portugal  over  the  Indies.  In  general  terms,  the 
result  was  to  give  the  Americas,  except  Brazil,  and  the  adjoining 
seas  to  Spain;  while  Portugal  received  Africa,  Asia,  and  Brazil 
with  the  adjacent  seas. 

Thus,  as  the  fifteenth  century  progressed,  the  triumphs  of  the 
Ottoman  Turks  were  rapidly  closing  the  ancient  routes  of  trade 
from  India  to  the  West,  so  that  the  West  was  feeling  more  and 
more  keenly  how  necessary  India  and  her  luxurious  products  were, 
but  by  fortunate  coincidence  the  Western  knowledge  of  India  was 
being  constantly  enlarged  and  necessity  and  ambition  were  further- 
ing the  efforts  of  the  Portuguese  as  they  struggled  on  step  by 
step  nearer  the  goal  of  the  Indies — a  goal  whose  possession  they 
carefully  safeguarded  by  an  astute  diplomacy.  In  the  fullness  of 
time  Vasco  da  Gama  and  his  three  little  caravels,  the  largest  being 
his  flagship  the  San  Gabriel  of  120  tons,  followed  the  course  of 
Diaz  around  the  cape  and  then  obeying  the  sailing  directions 
received  from  Covilham  arrived  safely  at  Calicut  on  the  Malabar 
coast  of  India  on  May  20,  1498. 

From  the  first,  Da  Gama  encountered  hostility  from  the 
Moors,  or  rather  Arabs,  who  monopolized  the  sea-borne  trade; 
but  he  seems  to  have  found  favor  with  the  Hindu  raja  of  Calicut 
or  zamorin,  a  Sanskrit  title  meaning  "  the  son  of  the  sea."  An 
Afghan  of  the  Lodi  dynasty  was  then  on  the  throne  of  Delhi,  and 
another  Afghan  king  was  ruling  over  Bengal.  Ahmadabad 
formed  the  seat  of  a  Mohammedan  dynasty  in  Gujarat.  The  five 
independent  Mohammedan  kingdoms  of  Ahmadnagar,  Bijapur, 
Ellichpur,  Golconda,  and  Bidar  had  partitioned  out  the  Deccan. 
The  Hindu  raja  of  Vijayanagar  still  ruled  as  paramount  in  the 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  147 

1498-1500 

south,  and  was  perhaps  the  most  powerful  monarch  to  be  found 
at  the  time  in  India,  not  excepting  the  Lodi  dynasty  at  Delhi. 

After  staying  nearly  six  months  on  the  Malabar  coast,  Da 
Gama  returned  to  Europe,  bearing  with  him  the  following  letter 
from  the  zamorin  to  the  king  of  Portugal :  "  Vasco  da  Gama,  a 
nobleman  of  your  household,  has  visited  my  kingdom  and  has 
given  me  great  pleasure.  In  my  kingdom  there  is  abundance  of 
cinnamon,  cloves,  ginger,  pepper,  and  precious  stones.  What  I 
seek  from  thy  country  is  gold,  silver,  coral,  and  scarlet."  The  safe 
arrival  of  Da  Gama  at  Lisbon  was  celebrated  with  national  rejoic- 
ings as  enthusiastic  as  those  which  had  greeted  the  return  of 
Columbus.  If  the  West  Indies  belonged  to  Spain  by  priority  of 
discovery,  Portugal  might  claim  the  East  Indies  by  the  same  right. 
The  Portuguese  mind  became  intoxicated  by  dreams  of  a  mighty 
oriental  empire. 

The  early  Portuguese  navigators  were  not  traders  or  private 
adventurers,  but  admirals  with  a  royal  commission  to  open  up  a 
direct  commerce  with  Asia,  and  to  purchase  eastern  commodities 
on  behalf  of  the  king  of  Portugal.  As  the  finding  of  the  route  to 
India  had  been  a  royal  rather  than  a  national  enterprise,  so  the 
empire  gained  was  a  royal  possession  and  its  commerce  a  royal 
monopoly.  Portuguese,  both  native  and  naturalized,  were  allowed 
to  participate  in  the  trade  under  royal  supervision  but  had  to  pay 
a  liberal  percentage  to  the  king.  Lisbon  was  the  entrepot  of  the 
Indian  trade;  but  in  order  to  compete  with  the  Italian  merchants 
in  northern  Europe  the  Portuguese  monarch  arranged  for  a 
regular  trade  from  Lisbon  to  Antwerp,  which  he  selected  as  the 
northern  mart  for  the  Indian  wares.  The  century  ending  with  the 
Spanish  seizure  of  Antwerp  in  1585  was  the  age  of  the  greatest 
prosperity  of  the  city.  England  was  supplied  with  Indian  goods 
from  Antwerp  chiefly,  and  it  was  the  occupation  and  consequent 
closure  of  Antwerp  to  the  trade  of  the  Dutch  and  the  English  that 
drove  them  to  enter  the  direct  trade  with  India. 

A  second  expedition,  consisting  of  thirteen  ships  and  seven 
hundred  soldiers,  under  the  command  of  Pedro  Alvares  Cabral, 
was  dispatched  in  1500.  On  his  outward  voyage,  Cabral  was 
driven   westward   by   stress   of   weather,    and   discovered   Brazil. 

After  leaving  Brazil  and  when  approaching  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  storms  again  broke  upon  the  squadron,  causing  the  loss  of 
several  vessels  and  their  crews.    Among  those  who  perished  was 


148  INDIA 

1500-1509 

Bartholomew  Diaz,  who  commanded  one  of  the  ships.  Ultimately 
Cabral  reached  Calicut.  He  established  a  factory,  or  agency  for 
the  purchase  of  goods  there;  but  as  soon  as  he  left  Calicut  the 
factor  was  murdered  by  the  Mohammedan  merchants.  In  spite  of 
this  disaster,  he  left  a  factor  behind  him  at  Cochin  when  he 
returned  to  Portugal. 

In  1502  the  king  of  Portugal  obtained  from  Pope  Alexander 
VI.  a  bull  constituting  him  "  Lord  of  the  navigation,  conquest,  and 
trade  of  Ethiopia,  Arabia,  Persia,  and  India."  In  that  year  Vasco 
da  Gama  sailed  again  to  the  East,  with  a  fleet  numbering  twenty 
vessels.  He  formed  alliances  with  the  rajas  of  Cochin  and  Can- 
nanore,  and  the  rani  of  Quilon,  and  bombarded  the  zamorin  of 
Calicut  in  his  palace.  In  1503  the  great  Alfonso  de  Albuquerque 
sailed  to  the  East  in  command  of  one  of  three  expeditions  from 
Portugal.  The  Portuguese  arrived  only  just  in  time  to  succor  the 
raja  of  Cochin,  who  was  being  besieged  by  the  zamorin  of  Calicut. 
They  built  a  fort  at  Cochin,  and,  to  guard  against  any  future  dis- 
aster, left  150  Portuguese  soldiers  under  Duarte  Pacheco  to  defend 
their  ally.  When  they  departed,  the  zamorin,  or  Hindu  raja  of 
Calicut,  again  attacked  Cochin,  but  he  was  defeated  by  Pacheco 
both  by  land  and  sea,  and  the  prestige  of  the  Portuguese  was  by 
these  victories  raised  to  its  height. 

In  1505  a  large  fleet  of  twenty-two  sail  with  fifteen  hundred 
soldiers  was  sent  under  Francisco  de  Almeida,  the  first  Portuguese 
viceroy  of  India.  Almeida  was  the  first  Portuguese  statesman  in 
India  to  develop  a  distinct  policy.  He  saw  that,  in  face  of  the 
opposition  of  the  Mohammedan  merchants,  whose  monopoly  was 
infringed,  it  was  necessary  to  fortify  factories  in  India,  in  which 
to  carry  on  trade ;  but  he  wished  these  forts  to  be  as  few  as  possible, 
and  that  the  chief  power  of  Portugal  should  be  on  the  sea. 
Almeida  had  also  a  new  danger  to  meet.  The  Mameluke  sultan  of 
Egypt  perceived  that  the  discovery  of  the  direct  sea-route  from 
Europe  to  India  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  ruining  the 
transit  trade  through  Egypt.  He  therefore  dispatched  a  fleet  to 
exterminate  the  Portuguese  forces  in  Asia.  The  sultan's  admiral 
won  a  victory  off  Chaul,  in  1508,  in  which  Almeida's  son  was 
killed;  but  on  February  2,  1509,  the  Egyptians  were  utterly  de- 
feated off  the  Island  of  Diu.  The  danger  of  a  general  union  of  the 
Moslems  against  the  Portuguese  was  thus  averted  for  the  time, 
and  the  quarrels  between  the  Turks  and  Egyptians  which  ensued 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  149 

1509-1529 

gave  time  for  the  Christians  to  firmly  consolidate  their  power  in 
India. 

In  1509,  Albuquerque  succeeded  as  governor,  and  widely  ex- 
tended the  area  of  Portuguese  influence.  He  abandoned  the  system 
of  Almeida,  and  resolved  to  establish  a  Portuguese  empire  in 
India,  based  on  the  possession  of  important  points  along  the  coast, 
and  on  playing  off  the  native  princes  against  each  other.  His 
schemes  in  India  anticipated  Dupleix  and  the  English,  especially  in 
the  use  of  native  troops  and  in  his  dealings  with  native  govern- 
ments. Having  failed  in  an  attack  upon  Calicut,  he  in  15 10  seized 
Goa,  which  has  since  remained  the  capital  of  Portuguese  India. 
Then,  sailing  around  Ceylon,  he  captured  Malacca,  the  key  to  the 
navigation  of  the  Indian  archipelago,  and  opened  a  trade  with 
Siam  and  the  Spice  Islands.  Lastly,  he  sailed  back  westward,  and, 
after  penetrating  into  the  Red  Sea,  and  taking  Ormuz  in  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  returned  to  Goa,  dying  in  1515.  In  1524  Vasco  da 
Gama  came  out  to  the  East  for  the  third  time,  and  he  too  died  at 
Cochin,  after  a  rule  of  only  three  months.  For  exactly  a  century, 
from  1500  to  1600,  the  Portuguese  enjoyed  a  monopoly  of 
oriental  trade.  "  From  Japan  2  and  the  Spice  Islands  to  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  they  were  the  sole  masters  and 
dispensers  of  the  treasures  of  the  East;  while  their  possessions 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Africa  and  in  Brazil  completed  their 
maritime  empire." 

The  Portuguese  had  neither  the  political  strength  nor  the  per- 
sonal character  necessary  to  maintain  such  an  empire.  Their 
national  temper  had  been  formed  in  their  contest  with  the  Moors 
at  home.  They  were  not  traders,  but  knights-errant  and  crusaders, 
who  looked  on  every  pagan  as  an  enemy  of  Portugal  and  of  Christ. 
Only  those  who  have  read  the  contemporary  narratives  of  their 
conquests  can  realize  the  superstition  and  the  cruelty  with  which 
their  history  in  the  Indies  is  stained. 

Albuquerque  alone  endeavored  to  conciliate  the  good  will  of 
the  natives,  and  to  live  in  friendship  with  the  Hindu  princes,  who 
were  better  pleased  to  have  the  Portuguese,  as  firmly  governed  by 
him,  for  their  neighbors  and  allies,  than  the  Mohammedans  whom 
he  had  expelled  or  subdued.     The  justice  and  magnanimity  of  his 

2  This  and  the  following  paragraphs  are  condensed  from  Sir  George  Bird- 
wood's  official  "  Report  on  the  Miscellaneous  Old  Records  in  the  Indian  Office," 
dated  November  1,  1878  (folio,  1879)— W.  W.  Hunter. 


150  INDIA 

1529-1538 

rule  did  as  much  to  extend  and  confirm  the  power  of  the 
Portuguese  in  the  East,  as  his  courage  and  the  success  of  his  mili- 
tary achievements.  In  such  veneration  was  his  memory  held,  that 
the  Hindus  of  Goa,  and  even  the  Mohammedans,  were  wont  to 
repair  to  his  tomb,  and  there  utter  their  complaints,  as  if  in  the 
presence  of  his  shade,  and  call  upon  God  to  deliver  them  from  the 
tyranny  of  his  successors. 

Yet  these  successors  were  not  all  tyrants.  Some  of  them  were 
great  statesmen;  many  were  gallant  soldiers.  The  names  of  four 
of  them  stand  out  brightly  in  the  history  of  the  Portuguese  in 
India.  Nuno  da  Cunha,  governor  from  1529  to  1538,  first  opened 
up  direct  and  regular  trade  with  Bengal.  After  15 18  one  ship 
annually  visited  Chittagong  to  purchase  merchandise  for  Portugal ; 
but  Da  Cunha,  hearing  of  the  wealth  of  the  province,  and  the 
peaceful,  industrious  character  of  its  inhabitants,  resolved  to  make 
a  settlement  there.  He  sent  400  Portuguese  soldiers  to  assist  the 
Mohammedan  king  of  Bengal  against  Slier  Shah  in  1534,  and  was 
intending  to  follow  in  person,  when  important  events  on  the  other 
side  of  India  detained  him.  His  intervention  had  the  effect  of 
causing  many  Portuguese  to  settle  in  Bengal.  They  were  never 
formed  into  a  regular  governorship,  but  remained  in  loose  depend- 
ence upon  the  captain  of  Ceylon.  Yet  they  became  very  pros- 
perous, and  their  headquarters,  Hugh,  grew  into  a  wealthy  city. 
After  the  capture  of  Hugh  by  Shah  Jahan  in  1629,  the  bravest  of 
the  Portuguese  in  Bengal  became  outlaws  and  pirates,  and  in  con- 
junction with  the  Arakanese  and  the  Maghs  preyed  upon  the  sea- 
borne commerce  of  the  Bengal  coast.  The  event  which  prevented 
Nuno  da  Cunha  from  establishing  the  Portuguese  power  in  Bengal 
was  the  approach  of  a  great  Turkish  and  Egyptian  fleet.  Selim  I. 
had  extended  the  Turkish  power  by  the  conquest  of  Egypt  in  1516- 
15 17,  and  his  successor  Suleiman  the  Magnificent  prepared  to 
accomplish  the  task  which  the  sultan  of  Egypt  had  attempted  thirty 
years  before.  The  Portuguese  were  in  a  better  position  to  resist 
than  they  had  been  in  the  days  of  the  viceroy  Almeida.  Nuno  da 
Cunha  had  obtained  possession  of  the  Island  of  Diu,  a  place  much 
coveted  by  Albuquerque,  from  the  king  of  Gujarat  in  1535,  and  it 
was  there  that  the  storm  broke.  Besieged  by  the  king  of  Gujarat 
by  land  and  by  the  vast  Turkish  and  Egyptian  fleet,  Diu  stood  a 
terrible  siege  in  1538;  and  the  defenders  at  last  beat  off  the  assail- 
ants.   Nuno  da  Cunha  did  not  live  to  see  this  glorious  result,  for  he 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  151 

1538-1565 

was  maligned  by  enemies  and  sent  home  in  custody,  and  it  was 
reserved  for  his  successor  to  relieve  Diu. 

Joao  de  Castro,  who  ruled  from  1545  to  1548,  was  no 
unworthy  countryman  of  Albuquerque  and  Da  Cunha.  He 
relieved  Diu,  which  again  had  to  stand  a  siege  by  the  king  of 
Gujarat,  whom  he  defeated  in  one  of  the  greatest  victories  ever 
won  by  the  Portuguese  in  India.  He  had  also  to  defend  Goa 
against  the  king  of  Bijapur,  and  with  similar  successes.  It  was  not 
only  as  a  warrior,  but  also  as  a  statesman,  that  Joao  de  Castro  won 
his  fame.  In  the  three  short  years  of  his  government  he  tried  to 
reform  the  errors  of  the  Portuguese  colonial  system.  The  trade 
of  India  was  a  royal  monopoly,  and  crowds  of  officials  lived  by 
peculation  and  corruption  in  order  to  enhance  their  salaries  from 
the  crown.  Joao  de  Castro  endeavored  to  cleanse  the  Augean 
stable,  and  by  his  own  upright  character  set  a  shining  example  to 
his  compatriots.  It  was  during  his  rule  that  the  Portuguese,  in 
addition  to  being  a  trading  and  a  governing  power,  became  a 
proselytizing  power.  Hitherto  Catholic  priests  had  come  to  India 
to  tend  the  souls  of  the  Portuguese,  but  now  began  the  era  of  mis- 
sions to  the  heathen.  This  development  of  missionary  effort  was 
largely  due  to  the  inspiring  exertions  of  Saint  Francis  Xavier,  who 
was  Castro's  intimate  friend.  Francis  Xavier  was  born  in  Navarre 
in  1506,  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Paris,  and  in  1534- 1540 
joined  with  Ignatius  of  Loyola  in  founding  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
He  reached  Goa  in  1542  and  died  in  1552  when  on  his  way  to 
China.  He  is  known  as  the  Apostle  of  the  Indies.  The  Jesuits  fol- 
lowed the  missionary  pioneer  of  their  order,  and  the  whole  authority 
of  the  Portuguese  government  was  practically  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Christian  missionaries  after  this  epoch. 

Constantino  de  Braganza,  a  prince  of  the  royal  house  of 
Portugal,  attempted,  and  not  without  some  success,  to  take  up  the 
task  which  had  proved  too  hard  for  De  Castro,  during  his  rule 
from  1558  to  1561;  but  he  is  better  remembered  as  the  conqueror 
of  Daman,  one  of  the  places  still  belonging  to  Portugal.  Luis  de 
Athaide,  who  was  viceroy  from  1568  to  1571,  and  from  1578  to 
1 58 1,  had  during  his  first  viceroyalty  to  meet  a  formidable  league 
of  opponents.  The  defeat  of  the  Hindu  raja  of  Vijayanagar  at 
Talikot  in  1565,  left  the  Mohammedan  princes  of  the  Deccan  at 
liberty  to  act  against  the  Portuguese.  A  great  league  was  formed 
by  thern.,  which  included  even  the  half-savage  king  of  Achin.     All 


152  INDIA 

1565-1683 

the  Portuguese  settlements  on  the  Malabar  coast  as  well  as 
Malacca  were  besieged  by  overwhelming  forces,  but  the  Portu- 
guese commanders  rose  to  the  occasion.  Everywhere  they  were 
triumphant.  The  viceroy,  in  1570,  defended  Goa  for  ten  months 
against  the  king  of  Bijapur,  and  eventually  repulsed  him;  the 
undisciplined  Indian  troops  were  unable  to  stand  against  the 
veteran  soldiers  of  Portugal;  200  of  them,  at  Malacca,  routed 
15,000  natives  with  artillery.  When,  in  1578,  Malacca  was  again 
besieged  by  the  king  of  Achin,  the  small  Portuguese  garrison 
destroyed  10,000  of  his  men,  and  all  the  Achin  cannon  and  junks. 
Twice  again,  in  161 5  and  for  the  last  time  in  1628,  Malacca  was 
besieged,  and  on  each  occasion  the  Achinese  were  repulsed  with 
equal  bravery.  The  increased  military  forces  sent  out  to  resist 
these  attacks  proved,  however,  an  insupportable  drain  on  the 
revenues  and  population  of  Portugal. 

In  1580  the  Portuguese  crown  was  united  with  that  of  Spain, 
under  Philip  II.,  who  made  and  kept  a  promise  to  appoint  none  but 
Portuguese  to  office  in  the  East.  The  union  with  Spain  proved 
the  ruin  of  the  maritime  and  commercial  supremacy  of  Portugal 
in  the  East.  The  interests  of  Portugal  in  Asia  were  henceforth 
subordinated  to  the  European  interests  of  Spain;  and  the  enemies 
of  Spain,  the  Dutch  and  the  English,  preyed  on  the  Portuguese  as 
well  as  on  the  Spanish  commerce.  In  1640  Portugal  again  became 
a  separate  kingdom,  but  in  the  meanwhile  the  Dutch  and  English 
had  appeared  in  the  Eastern  seas;  and  before  their  indomitable 
competition  the  Portuguese  empire  of  the  Indies  withered  away 
as  rapidly  as  it  had  sprung  up.  The  period  of  the  highest  devel- 
opment of  Portuguese  commerce  was  probably  from  1590  to  1610, 
on  the  eve  of  the  subversion  of  their  commercial  power  by  the 
Dutch,  and  when  their  political  administration  in  India  was  at  its 
lowest  depth  of  degradation.  At  this  period  a  single  fleet  of 
Portuguese  merchantmen  sailing  from  Goa  to  Cambay  or  Surat 
would  number  as  many  as  150  or  250  carracks.  Now,  only  one 
Portuguese  ship  sails  from  Lisbon  to  Goa  in  the  year. 

The  Dutch  besieged  Goa  in  1603,  and  again  in  1639.  Both 
attacks  were  unsuccessful  on  land ;  but  the  Portuguese  were  gradu- 
ally driven  off  the  sea.  In  1683  the  Marathas  plundered  to  the 
gates  of  Goa,  and  in  1739  they  sacked  Bassein,  the  northern 
capital.  The  further  history  of  the  Portuguese  in  India  is  a  miser- 
able chronicle  of  pride,  poverty,  and  sounding  titles.     The  native 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  153 

1683-1800 

princes  pressed  upon  them  from  the  land.  On  the  sea  they  gave 
way  to  more  vigorous  European  nations. 

The  only  remaining  Portuguese  possessions  in  India  are  Goa, 
Daman,  and  Diu,  all  on  the  west  coast,  with  a  total  area  of  1638 
square  miles,  and  a  total  population  of  531,798  in  1900. 

About  30,000  so-called  Portuguese  half-castes  are  found  in 
Bombay,  and  20,000  in  Bengal,  chiefly  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Dacca  and  Chittagong.  The  latter  are  known  as  Firinghis;  and, 
excepting  that  they  retain  European  surnames  and  the  Catholic 
faith,  they  are  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  either  by  color, 
language  or  habits  of  life  from  the  natives  among  whom  they  live. 
Their  complexion  is  in  many  cases  darker  than  that  of  the  sur- 
rounding Indian  population;  and,  as  a  rule,  they  are  a  thriftless, 
feeble  class. 

Nor  do  the  Portuguese  succeed  in  obtaining  any  share  worth 
mentioning  in  the  modern  trade  of  British  India.  While  French 
and  Germans  are  taking  advantage  of  the  commercial  activity  of 
British  rule  in  the  East  to  enter  on  Indian  commercial  enterprise 
in  increasing  numbers,  the  few  Portuguese  traders  or  employees 
born  in  Portugal  and  resorting  to  British  India  are  decreasing. 
Their  total  which  amounted  to  426  in  1872,  had  fallen  to  133  in 
1881,  and  was  returned  at  149  by  the  census  of  1891.  The  efforts 
by  the  British  government  to  establish  a  commercial  solidarity  of 
interest  with  Portugal  in  India  have  not  worked  out  with  entire 
success.  The  construction  of  a  railroad  to  a  large  extent  with  British 
private  capital,  and  under  the  supervision  of  private  British  engin- 
eers, designed  to  connect  the  port  of  Marmagao,  the  main  Portu- 
guese settlement  of  Goa,  with  the  interior  of  India  led,  about  1885, 
to  a  customs  treaty  being  negotiated,  which  placed  the  Goa  and 
the  British  systems  on  a  fairly  homogeneous  basis.  After  some 
years,  however,  the  Portuguese  declined  to  renew  their  engage- 
ments so  that  they  were  left  in  a  state  of  political  and  commercial 
isolation  in  India.  More  recently  the  relations  have  grown  more 
intimate,  and  in  1902,  while  the  total  imports  were  $1,442,041  and 
the  exports  $356,757,  the  transit  trade  with  British  India  was 
valued  at  $3,545,532. 

The  Dutch  were  the  first  European  nation  who  broke  through 
the  Portuguese  monopoly.  The  Dutch  war  for  independence 
closed  the  ports  of  Spain,  including  Lisbon,  to  the  Dutch,  and  forced 
them  into  the  direct  trade  with  India.     The  war  with  Spain  and 


154.  INDIA 

1583-1689 

the  closing  of  Lisbon  and  Antwerp  compelled  the  English  also  to 
enter  directly  into  the  Indian  trade.  During  the  sixteenth  century- 
Bruges,  Antwerp,  and  Amsterdam  became  successively  the  great 
emporiums  whence  Indian  produce,  imported  by  the  Portuguese, 
was  distributed  to  Germany,  and  even  to  England.  At  first  the 
Dutch,  following  in  the  track  of  the  English,  attempted  to  find 
their  way  to  India  by  sailing  around  the  northern  coast  of  Europe 
and  Asia.  William  Barents  is  honorably  known  as  the  leader  of 
three  of  these  Arctic  expeditions. 

John  Huyghen  van  Linschoten  of  Haarlem  dwelt  at  Goa  from 
1583  to  1589  in  the  train  of  the  Portuguese  archbishop,  and  pub- 
lished in  1 595-1 596  a  narrative  valuable  for  a  guide  and  which  was 
translated  into  English  in  1598  and  into  other  languages. 

The  first  Dutchman  to  double  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was 
Cornelius  Houtman,  who  reached  Sumatra  and  Bantam  in  1596. 
Forthwith  private  companies  for  trade  with  the  East  were  formed 
in  many  parts  of  the  United  Provinces;  but  in  1602  they  were  all 
amalgamated  by  the  States-General  into  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company.  Within  fifty  years  the  Dutch  had  established  factories 
on  the  continent,  in  Ceylon,  in  Sumatra,  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  in 
the  Red  Sea,  besides  having  obtained  exclusive  possession  of  the 
Moluccas  or  Spice  Islands.  The  first  Dutch  settlement  in  India 
was  at  Pulicat,  about  20  miles  north  of  Madras,  in  1609.  The 
Dutch  settled  at  Surat  in  161 8.  In  16 19  they  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  city  of  Batavia,  in  Java,  as  the  seat  of  the  supreme  govern- 
ment of  the  Dutch  possessions  in  the  East  Indies,  which  had  pre- 
viously been  at  Amboyna  in  the  Moluccas.  At  about  the  same  time 
the  Dutch  discovered  the  coast  of  Australia  (1606-1644);  while 
in  North  America  they  founded  the  city  of  New  Amsterdam,  now 
New  York,  in  161 3- 1626. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  the  Dutch  were  the  foremost 
maritime  power  in  the  world.  Their  memorable  massacre  of  the 
English  at  Amboyna,  in  1623,  forced  the  British  Company  to  retire 
from  the  eastern  archipelago  to  the  continent  of  India  and  thus 
led  to  the  foundation  of  England's  Indian  empire.  The  long  naval 
wars  and  the  bloody  battles  between  the  English  and  the  Dutch 
within  the  narrow  seas  were  not  terminated  until  William  of 
Orange  united  the  two  countries  in  1689.  In  the  eastern  archi- 
pelago the  Dutch  ruled  without  a  rival,  and  expelled  the  Portu- 
guese from  almost  all  their  territorial  possessions.     A  portion  of 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  155 

1634-1800 

the  Island  of  Timor  is  the  only  relic  which  Portugal  retains  of  her 
former  empire  in  the  Indian  archipelago. 

In  1634  the  Dutch  began  to  visit  Formosa;  in  1640  they  took 
Malacca,  a  blow  from  which  the  Portuguese  never  recovered;  in 
1647  tney  were  trading  at  Sadras,  on  the  Coromandel  coast  about 
40  miles  south  of  Madras;  in  1652  they  founded  a  colony  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  as  a  half-way  station  to  the  East;  in  1652 
they  built  their  Indian  factory  at  Palakollu,  on  the  Godavari  delta 
on  the  Madras  coast;  in  1658  they  captured  Jaffnapatam,  the  last 
stronghold  of  the  Portuguese  in  Ceylon.  Between  1661  and  1664 
the  Dutch  wrested  from  the  Portuguese  all  their  earlier  settlements 
south  of  Goa  on  the  pepper-bearing  coast  of  Malabar;  and  in  1669 
they  expelled  the  Portuguese  from  St.  Thome  in  Madras,  and  from 
Macassar  in  Celebes. 

The  fall  of  the  Dutch  colonial  empire  resulted  from  its  short- 
sighted commercial  policy.  It  was  deliberately  based  upon  a 
monopoly  of  the  trade  in  spices,  and  remained  from  first  to  last 
destitute  of  sound  economical  principles.  Like  the  Phoenicians 
of  old,  the  Dutch  stopped  short  of  no  acts  of  cruelty  toward  their 
rivals  in  commerce;  but,  unlike  the  Phoenicians,  they  failed  to 
introduce  their  civilization  among  the  natives  with  whom  they 
came  in  contact.  The  knell  of  Dutch  supremacy  was  sounded  by 
Clive,  when  in  1759  he  attacked  the  Dutch  both  by  land  and  water 
at  Chinsurah,  now  part  of  the  town  of  Hugh  on  the  Hugh  River, 
a  short  distance  above  Calcutta,  and  forced  them  to  an  ignominious 
capitulation.  During  the  great  French  wars  between  1795  and 
181 1  England  wrested  from  Holland  every  one  of  her  colonies. 
At  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  many  of  the  Dutch  colonies 
in  the  East  were  restored  by  the  English,  but  during  the  next  dec- 
ade various  readjustments  were  effected.  By  the  eighth  article 
of  the  treaty  signed  at  London  on  March  17,  1824,  the  Dutch 
ceded  to  the  English  all  their  establishments  on  the  continent  of 
India.  This  treaty  also  arranged  the  exchange  of  English  claims 
in  Sumatra,  and  other  islands  of  the  eastern  archipelago  for 
Malacca  and  Singapore;  and  defined  the  mutual  relations  of  the 
English  and  Dutch  in  the  East  politically  and  commercially.  This 
treaty,  supplemented  by  more  recent  clauses  concerning  Sumatra, 
Borneo,  and  New  Guinea,  is  still  in  force.  At  present,  the  Dutch 
flag  flies  nowhere  on  the  mainland  of  India,  but  quaint  houses, 
Dutch  tiles,  and  carvings,  at  Chinsurah,  Negapatam,  Jaffnapatam, 


156  INDIA 

1498-1583 

and  at  petty  ports  on  the  Coromandel  and  Malabar  coasts,  with  the 
formal  canals  in  some  of  these  old  settlements,  remind  the  traveler 
of*  scenes  in  the  Netherlands.  In  the  census  of  1872  only  70 
Dutchmen  were  enumerated  throughout  all  British  India,  78  in 
1881,  and  119  in  1891. 

The  earliest  English  attempts  to  reach  India  were  made  by 
the  Northwest  Passage.  In  1496  Henry  VII.  granted  letters  patent 
to  John  Cabot  and  his  three  sons,  one  of  whom  was  the  famous 
Sebastian,  to  fit  out  two  ships  for  the  exploration  of  this  route. 
They  failed,  but  discovered  the  Island  of  Newfoundland,  in  1497, 
and  in  later  years  made  other  voyages  to  those  coasts.  In  1553 
the  ill-fated  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby  attempted  to  force  a  passage 
along  the  north  of  Europe  and  Asia,  the  successful  accomplish- 
ment of  which  was  reserved  for  a  Swedish  savant,  Nordenskjold, 
in  1878-1879.  Sir  Hugh  perished  miserably;  but  his  second  in 
command,  Chancellor,  reached  a  harbor,  now  Archangel,  on  the 
White  Sea.  Thence  he  penetrated  by  land  to  the  court  of  the  tsar, 
Ivan  the  Terrible,  at  Moscow,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  "  the 
Russia  company  for  carrying  on  the  overland  trade  between  India, 
Persia,  Bokhara,  and  Moscow." 

Many  English  attempts  were  made  to  find  a  northwest  pas- 
sage to  the  East  Indies,  from  1576  to  161 6.  They  have  left  on 
modern  maps  the  imperishable  names  of  Frobisher,  Davis,  Hud- 
son, and  Baffin.  Meanwhile,  in  1577,  Sir  Francis  Drake  had  cir- 
cumnavigated the  globe,  and  on  his  way  home  had  touched  at 
Ternate,  one  of  the  Moluccas,  the  king  of  which  island  agreed  to 
supply  the  English  nation  with  all  the  cloves  which  it  produced. 

The  first  modern  Englishman  known  to  have  visited  the 
Indian  peninsula  was  Thomas  Stephens,  in  1579.  William  of 
Malmesbury  states,  indeed,  that  in  883  Sighelmus  of  Sherborne, 
sent  by  King  Alfred  to  Rome  with  presents  to  the  Pope,  proceeded 
thence  to  "  India,"  to  the  tomb  of  Saint  Thomas.  The  tomb  of 
Saint  Thomas  was  at  Edessa,  now  Urfa  in  northern  Mesopotamia, 
according  to  the  tradition  of  the  early  church.  He  brought  back 
jewels  and  spices;  but  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  "  India  "  of 
William  of  Malmesbury  meant  the  Indian  peninsula.  Stephens 
was  educated  at  New  College,  Oxford,  and  became  rector  of  the 
Jesuit  college  in  Salsette  near  Bombay.  His  letters  to  his  father 
are  said  to  have  roused  great  enthusiasm  in  England  to  trade 
directly  with  India. 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  157 

1583-1599 

In  1583  three  English  merchants,  Ralph  Fitch,  James  New- 
berry, and  Leedes,  went  out  to  India  overland  as  mercantile  adven- 
turers. The  jealous  Portuguese  threw  them  into  prison  at  Ormuz, 
and  again  at  Goa.  At  length  Newberry  settled  down  as  a  shop- 
keeper at  Goa ;  Leedes  entered  the  service  of  the  Great  Mogul ;  and 
Fitch,  after  a  lengthened  peregrination  in  Ceylon,  Bengal,  Pegu, 
Siam,  Malacca,  and  other  parts  of  the  East  Indies,  returned  to 
England  in  1591. 

The  voyage  of  Drake  was  followed  by  another  voyage  around 
the  world  by  Thomas  Cavendish  in  1 586-1 588,  returning  to  England 
just  after  the  defeat  of  the  Armada.  In  1591  was  fitted  out  the 
first  English  expedition  to  sail  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  into 
the  Indian  Ocean.  One  of  the  vessels,  the  Edward  Bonaventure, 
Captain  James  Lancaster,  visited  India  and  various  neighboring 
coasts  and  finally  returned  to  England  in  1594  with  a  valuable 
cargo.  The  Muscovy  or  Russia  Company  organized  in  1554  and 
the  Turkey  or  Levant  Company  chartered  in  1581  both  reckoned 
on  drawing  some  trade  from  India  by  the  two  overland  routes,  so 
that  there  was  a  slowness  in  taking  up  the  scheme  of  direct  sea 
trade.  Elizabeth's  diplomacy,  also,  was  tortuous,  so  that  the 
accounts  of  Stephens,  Fitch,  and  Lancaster  were  not  permitted  to 
have  the  immediate  effect  in  England  that  Linschoten's  had  in  the 
Netherlands. 

The  defeat  of  the  Invincible  Armada  in  1588,  at  which  time 
the  crowns  of  Spain  and  Portugal  were  united,  gave  a  fresh  stimu- 
lus to  maritime  enterprise  in  England  and  the  successful  voyage 
of  the  Dutch  Cornelius  Houtman  in  1596  showed  the  way  around 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  into  waters  hitherto  almost  entirely  monop- 
olized by  the  Portuguese.  Not  entirely,  for  a  renegade  Portu- 
guese, Magellan,  had  led  a  Spanish  expedition  around  South 
America  to  the  Philippine  Islands,  where  he  was  murdered  in  1521. 
One  of  the  vessels  returned  by  the  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
completing  the  first  circumnavigation  of  the  globe.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  series  of  Spanish  voyages,  especially  from  Mexico  to 
the  Philippines  and  vicinity.  Legazpi,  sent  out  by  the  viceroy  of 
Mexico,  established  Spanish  control  in  the  Philippines  between 
1564  and  1571. 

In  1 597- 1 599  the  Dutch,  who  had  now  firmly  established  their 
trade  in  the  East,  raised  the  price  of  pepper  against  the  English 
from  three  shillings  per  pound  to  six  shillings  and  even  to  eight 


158  INDIA 

1599-1600 

shillings.  The  merchants  of  London  held  a  meeting  on  September 
22,  1599,  at  Founders'  Hall,  with  the  lord  mayor  in  the  chair,  and 
agreed  to  form  an  association  for  the  purposes  of  trading  directly 
with  India.  Some  of  the  merchants  sent  John  Mildenhall  by  Con- 
stantinople to  the  Great  Mogul  with  letters  from  Queen  Elizabeth 
to  apply  for  privileges  for  an  English  company.  On  December  31, 
1600,  the  English  East  India  Company  was  incorporated  by  royal 
charter  under  the  title  of  "  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Merchants 
of  London  trading  to  the  East  Indies."  The  original  company  had 
only  125  shareholders,  and  a  capital  of  68,373/.  ($332,300),  which 
was  raised  to  429,000/.  ($2,085,000),  in  1612-1613,  when  voyages 
were  undertaken  on  the  so-called  'first  joint-stock  account.  Per- 
haps the  most  active  of  the  merchants  in  promoting  the  organization 
of  the  Company  was  Richard  Staper.  The  first  governor  of  the  new 
Company  was  Thomas  Smith,  or  Smythe,  who  was  born  about 
1558,  knighted  in  1603,  and  died  in  1625.  Both  of  these  merchants 
had  earlier  been  founders  of  the  Levant  Company,  and  Smith  was 
later  treasurer  of  the  London  Virginia  Company. 

Courten's  Association,  known  as  "  the  Assada  Merchants," 
from  a  factory  subsequently  founded  by  it  in  Madagascar,  was 
established  in  1635,  but,  after  a  period  of  internecine  rivalry,  was 
united  with  the  London  company  in  1650.  This  company  was  com- 
posed chiefly  of  Sir  William  Courten  (1 572-1636),  and  Sir  Paul 
Pindar  (c.  1 565-1650),  two  wealthy  London  merchants  who  had 
made  large  loans  to  Charles  I. ;  and  Endymion  Porter  (1587-1649), 
a  groom  of  the  bedchamber  to  Charles  I.  On  Courten's  death 
his  privileges  were  continued  to  his  younger  son,  William  Cour- 
ten (d.  1655). 

In  1654-1655,  the  "  Company  of  Merchant  Adventurers"  ob- 
tained a  charter  from  Cromwell  to  trade  with  India,  but  united  with 
the  original  company  two  years  later.  The  final  merger  of  the 
Association  and  of  the  Merchant  Adventurers  with  the  East  India 
Company  was  effected  by  Cromwell's  new  charter  to  the  East  India 
Company  on  October  19,  1657.  A  more  formidable  rival  sub- 
sequently appeared  in  the  "  General  Society,"  or  English  Company, 
trading  to  the  East  Indies,  which  was  incorporated  under  powerful 
patronage  in  1698,  with  a  capital  of  two  millions  sterling  ($9,720,- 
000).  According  to  Evelyn,  in  his  "Diary"  for  March  5,  1698, 
"  the  old  East  India  Company  lost  their  business  against  the  new 
Company  by  ten  votes  in  Parliament,  so  many  of  their  friends  being 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  159 

1600-1608 

absent,  going  to  see  a  tiger  baited  by  dogs."  However,  a  com- 
promise was  speedily  effected  through  the  arbitration  of  Lord 
Godolphin  in  1702,  and  the  London  and  the  English  Companies 
were  finally  amalgamated  in  1709,  under  style  of  "  The  United 
Company  of  Merchants  of  England  trading  to  the  East  Indies." 
About  the  same  time  the  Company  increased  its  loans  to  the  English 
government  to  an  aggregate  of  3,200,000/.  ($15,552,000),  at  5 
per  cent,  interest,  in  return  for  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  trade  to 
all  places  between  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the  Straits  of  Ma- 
gellan. The  Company  had  not  only  to  face  incorporated  rivals  from 
time  to  time,  but  it  had  also  to  contend  with  "  interlopers,"  or 
private,  independent  trading  adventurers  whose  methods  tended  to 
piracy,  during  the  whole  period  of  their  trade  monopoly.  The  first 
of  these  was  Michelborne,  and  the  notorious  Captain  Kidd  was 
one  of  the  piratical  interlopers. 

The  early  voyages  of  the  Company  from  1600  to  16 12  are 
distinguished  as  the  "  separate  voyages,"  twelve  in  number.  The 
subscribers  individually  bore  the  expenses  of  each  voyage,  and 
reaped  the  whole  profits.  With  the  exception  of  the  fourth,  all  these 
separate  voyages  were  highly  prosperous,  the  profits  hardly  ever 
falling  below  100  per  cent.  After  1612,  the  voyages  were  conducted 
on  the  joint-stock  account,  which  differed,  however,  from  the 
modern  understanding  of  that  term.  The  joint-stock  method  did 
not- approximate  the  modern  plan  until  Cromwell's  charter  of  1657, 
and  did  not  come  into  full  operation  in  the  modern  sense  until  the 
formation  of  the  United  Company  in  1708. 

The  English  were  promptly  opposed  by  the  Portuguese,  but 
James  Lancaster  (knighted  1603;  died  1618),  even  in  the  first  voy- 
age in  1601-1602,  established  commercial  relations  with  the  king  of 
Achin  and  at  Priaman  in  the  Island  of  Sumatra ;  as  well  as  with  the 
Moluccas,  and  at  Bantam  in  Java,  where  he  settled  a  "  house  of 
trade  "  in  1603.  In  1604  the  Company  undertook  their  second  voy- 
age, commanded  by  Sir  Henry  Middleton,  who  extended  their  trade 
to  Banda  and  Amboyna.  The  success  of  these  voyages  attracted  a 
number  of  private  merchants  to  the  business;  and  in  1606  James  I. 
granted  a  license  to  Sir  Edward  Michelborne  and  others  to  trade 
"  to  Cathay,  China,  Japan,  Corea,  and  Cambaya."  Michelborne,  on 
arriving  in  the  East,  instead  of  exploring  new  sources  of  commerce 
like  the  East  India  Company,  followed  the  pernicious  example  of 
the  Portuguese,  and  plundered  the  native  traders  among  the  islands 


160  INDIA 

1608-1615 

of  the  Indian  archipelago.  He  in  this  way  secured  a  considerable 
booty,  but  brought  disgrace  on  the  British  name,  and  seriously 
hindered  the  Company's  business  at  Bantam. 

In  1608  Captain  David  Middleton,  in  command  of  the  fifth 
voyage,  was  prevented  by  the  Dutch  from  trading  at  Banda,  but 
succeeded  in  obtaining  a  cargo  at  Pulo  Way,  in  the  Moluccas.  In 
this  year  also,  Captain  William  Hawkins  proceeded  from  Surat,  as 
envoy  from  James  I.  and  the  East  India  Company,  to  the  court  of 
the  Great  Mogul.  He  was  graciously  received  by  the  Emperor 
Jahangir,  and  remained  three  years  at  Agra.  In  1609  Captain  Shar- 
pay  obtained  the  grant  of  free  trade  at  Aden,  and  a  cargo  of  pepper 
at  Priaman  in  Sumatra.  In  1609  also,  the  Company  constructed  the 
dockyard  at  Deptford,  which  was  the  beginning,  observes  Sir  Wil- 
liam Monson,  "  of  the  increase  of  great  ships  in  England."  In 
161 1  Sir  Henry  Middleton,  in  command  of  the  sixth  voyage, 
arrived  before  Cambay.  He  resolutely  fought  the  Portuguese,  who 
tried  to  beat  him  off,  and  obtained  important  concessions  from  the 
native  powers.  In  1610-1611  also,  Captain  Hippon,  commanding 
the  seventh  voyage,  established  agencies  at  Pettipollee,  now 
Nizampatam,  and  at  Masulipatam,  and  in  Siam  at  Patania  or  Patany 
on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Malay  peninsula. 

In  1612  the  Company's  fleet,  under  Captain  Best,  was  at- 
tacked off  Swally,  the  port  of  Surat,  at  the  mouth  of  the  River 
Tapti,  by  an  overwhelming  force  of  Portuguese;  but  the  assailants 
were  utterly  defeated  in  four  engagements,  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  natives,  who  had  hitherto  considered  them  invincible.  The 
first-fruit  of  this  decisive  victory  was  the  leave  obtained  by  Thomas 
Aldworth  from  the  Mogul  governor  to  establish  an  English  factory 
at  Surat,  with  subordinate  agencies  at  the  neighboring  towns  of 
Gogo,  Ahmadabad,  and  Cambay.  Trade  was  also  opened  with  the 
Persian  Gulf.  In  1614  an  agency  was  established  at  Ajmere  by  Mr. 
Edwards  of  the  Surat  factory.  In  161 5  Captain  Downton  inflicted 
another  defeat  on  the  Portuguese  near  Surat.  The  chief  seat  of  the 
Company's  government  in  western  India  remained  at  Surat  until 
1 684- 1 687,  when  it  was  transferred  to  Bombay. 

In  161 5  Sir  Thomas  Roe  was  sent  by  James  I.  as  ambassador 
to  the  court  of  Jahangir,  and  succeeded  in  placing  the  Company's 
trade  in  the  Mogul  dominions  on  a  more  favorable  footing.  From 
the  days  of  Roe  until  the  time  of  Sir  John  Child,  the  English  theory 
was  that  of  "  quiet  trade  "  in  the  Mogul  dominions.     No  fortifica- 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  161 

1615-1620 

tions  or  garrisons  were  established  at  the  factories  or  agencies  in 
the  Mogul  empire,  but  entire  dependence  was  placed  on  the  Mogul 
authorities  for  protection.  When  the  protection  ceased  to  be  efficient, 
with  the  beginning  of  the  Maratha  raids  and  the  break-up  of  the 
Mogul  empire,  the  "  quiet  trade  "  theory  had  to  give  place  to  the 
imperial  ideas  of  the  Childs. 

In  1618  the  English  established  a  factory  at  Mocha;  but  the 
Dutch  were  compelling  them  to  resign  all  pretensions  to  the  Spice 
Islands.  In  that  year  also,  the  Company  failed  in  its  attempt  to 
open  a  trade  on  the  Malabar  coast  with  Dabhol,  Baticala,  and  Cali- 
cut, through  a  want  of  sincerity  on  the  part  of  the  zamorin,  or 
Calicut  raja.  In  1619  the  English  were  permitted  to  establish  a  fac- 
tory and  build  a  fort  at  Jask,  near  the  entrance  of  the  Persian  Gulf. 

In  1619  the  "  Treaty  of  Defense  "  with  the  Dutch,  to  prevent 
disputes  between  the  English  and  Dutch  Companies,  was  ratified. 
When  it  was  proclaimed  in  the  East,  the  Dutch  and  English  fleets, 
dressed  out  in  all  their  flags,  and  with  yards  manned,  saluted  each 
other;  but  the  treaty  ended  in  the  smoke  of  that  stately  salutation, 
and  the  perpetual  strife  between  the  Dutch  and  English  Companies 
went  on  as  bitterly  as  ever.  Up  to  this  time  the  English  Company 
did  not  possess  any  territory  in  sovereign  right  in  the  Indies,  ex- 
cepting the  Island  of  Lantore,  or  Great  Banda  in  the  Moluccas. 
The  island  was  governed  by  a  commercial  agent  of  the  Company, 
who  had  under  him  thirty  Europeans  as  clerks  and  warehousemen. 
This  little  band,  with  250  armed  Malays,  constituted  the  only  force 
by  which  it  was  protected.  In  the  Islands  of  Banda  and  Pulo  Roon 
and  Rosengyn  in  the  Moluccas,  the  English  Company  had  factories, 
at  each  of  which  were  ten  agents.  At  Macassar  in  Celebes  and 
Achin  in  Sumatra,  they  possessed  agencies;  the  whole  being  sub- 
ordinate to  a  head  factory  at  Bantam  in  Java. 

In  1620  the  Dutch,  notwithstanding  the  Treaty  of  Defense 
concluded  the  previous  year,  expelled  the  English  from  Pulo  Roon 
and  Lantore;  and  in  1621  from  Bantam  in  Java.  The  fugitive  fac- 
tors tried  to  establish  themselves  first  at  Pulicat,  and  afterward  at 
Masulipatam  on  the  Coromandel  coast,  but  were  effectually  opposed 
by  the  Dutch.  In  1620  the  Portuguese  also  attacked  the  English 
fleet  under  Captain  Shilling  off  the  Persian  coast,  but  were  de- 
feated with  great  loss/  From  this  time  the  estimation  in  which  the 
Portuguese  were  held  by  the  natives  declined,  while  that  of  the 
English   rose.      In   1620,   too,  the   English   Company   established 


162  INDIA 

1620-1632 

agencies  at  Agra  and  Patna.  In  1622,  they  joined  with  the  Persians, 
attacked  and  took  Ormuz  from  the  Portuguese,  and  obtained  from 
Shah  Abbas  a  grant  in  perpetuity  of  the  customs  of  Gombroon 
(Bandar  Abbas).  This  was  the  first  time  that  the  English  took  the 
offensive  against  the  Portuguese.  In  the  same  year,  1622,  the 
English  Company  succeeded  in  reestablishing  their  factory  at 
Masulipatam. 

The  massacre  of  Amboyna,  which  made  so  deep  an  impression 
on  the  English  mind,  marked  the  climax  of  the  Dutch  hatred  to  the 
English  in  the  eastern  seas.  After  long  and  bitter  recriminations, 
the  Dutch  seized  Captain  Towerson,  with  9  Englishmen,  9  Japanese, 
and  one  Portuguese  sailor,  on  February  17,  1623.  They  tortured 
the  prisoners  at  their  trial,  and  found  them  guilty  of  a  conspiracy 
to  surprise  the  garrison.  The  victims  were  executed  in  the  heat 
of  passion,  and  their  torture  and  judicial  murder  led  to  an  outburst 
of  indignation  in  England. 

Ultimately  commissioners  were  appointed  to  adjust  the  claims 
of  the  two  nations;  and  the  Dutch  had  to  pay  a  sum  of  3615/. 
($17,570)  as  satisfaction  to  the  heirs  of  those  who  had  suffered; 
but  from  that  time  the  Dutch  remained  masters  of  Lantore  and  the 
neighboring  islands.  They  monopolized  the  trade  of  the  whole 
Indian  archipelago  until  the  great  naval  wars  which  commenced  in 
1793.  In  1624  the  English,  unable  to  oppose  the  Dutch,  withdrew 
nearly  all  their  factories  from  the  archipelago,  the  Malay  peninsula, 
Siam,  and  Java.  Some  of  the  factors  and  agents  retired  to  the 
Island  of  Lagundy,  in  the  Strait  of  Sunda,  but  were  forced  by  its 
unhealthfulness  to  abandon  it. 

Driven  out  of  the  eastern  archipelago  by  the  Dutch,  and  thus 
almost  cut  off  from  the  lucrative  spice  trade,  the  English  betook 
themselves  in  earnest  to  founding  settlements  on  the  Indian  sea- 
board. In  1625-1626  the  English  established  a  factory  at  Arma- 
gaon,  now  Durgarayapatnam,  about  seventy  miles  north  of  Madras 
on  the  Coromandel  coast,  subordinate  to  Masulipatam;  but  in  1628 
Masulipatam  was,  in  consequence  of  the  oppressions  of  the  native 
governors,  for  a  time  abandoned  in  favor  of  Armagaon,  which  now 
mounted  12  guns,  and  had  23  factors  and  agents.  In  1628  the 
factory  at  Bantam  in  Java  was  reestablished,  and  in  1630  made  an 
agency  subordinate  to  Surat;  in  the  same  year  Armagaon,  rein- 
forced by  20  soldiers,  was  also  placed  under  the  presidency  of  Surat. 
In   1632    the  English  factory  was  reestablished  at  Masulipatam, 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  163 

1632-1640 

under  a  grant,  the  "  golden  firman,"  from  the  king  of  Golconda. 
In  1634,  by  a  firman  dated  February  2,  the  Company  obtained  from 
the  Great  Mogul  liberty  to  trade  in  Bengal,  but  their  ships  were  to 
resort  only  to  Pippli  in  Orissa,  now  left  far  inland  by  the  sea.  The 
Portuguese  were  about  the  same  date  expelled  for  a  time  from 
Bengal.  English  trade  with  Bengal  was  opened  by  Ralph  Cart- 
wright  and  others  who  made  a  voyage  from  Masulipatam  to  the 
Orissa  coast,  where  they  obtained  from  the  Mogul  governor  of 
Orissa  a  grant  of  trading  privileges  dated  May  5,  1633.  Cart- 
wright  immediately  established  a  factory  at  Balasor,  which  had  a 
precarious  existence  until  the  nawab  of  Bengal  confirmed  the  Eng- 
lish trading  privileges  in  those  regions  about  1650. 

In  1 634- 1 63 5  the  English  factory  at  Bantam  in  Java  was 
again  raised  to  an  independent  presidency,  and  an  agency  was 
established  at  Tatta,  or  "  Scindy,"  on  the  Indus  delta.  In  1637 
Courten's  Association,  chartered  in  1635,  settled  agencies  at  Goa, 
Baticala,  Karwar,  and  Rajapur,  on  the  Malabar  coast  and  at  Achin 
in  Sumatra.  Its  ships  had  the  year  before  plundered  some  native 
vessels  at  Surat  and  Diu.  This  act  disgraced  the  Company  with 
the  Mogul  authorities,  who  could  not  comprehend  the  distinction 
between  the  Company  and  the  Association ;  and  depressed  the  Eng- 
lish trade  with  Surat,  while  that  of  the  Dutch  proportionately 
increased. 

In  1638  Armagaon  was  abandoned  as  unsuited  for  commerce; 
and  in  1639  Fort  Saint  George,  or  Madraspatam  or  Chennapatam, 
was  founded  by  Francis  Day,  and  the  factors  at  Armagaon  were 
removed  to  it.  It  was  made  subordinate  to  Bantam  in  Java,  until 
raised  in  1653  to  the  rank  of  a  presidency.  Chennapatam  is  the 
native  name,  while  Madraspatam  or  Madras  has  become  the  English 
name.  The  site  was  purchased  from  the  raja  of  Chandragiri,  a  de- 
scendant of  the  Vijayanagar  dynasty,  and  was  the  first  territorial 
possession  of  the  English  in  India.  In  1640  the  Company  estab- 
lished an  agency  at  Bussorah  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
a  factory  at  Karwar  on  the  Malabar  coast.  Trade  having  much  ex- 
tended, the  Company's  yard  at  Deptford  was  found  too  small  for 
their  ships,  and  they  purchased  some  copyhold  ground  at  Black- 
wall,  which  was  at  that  time  a  waste  marsh,  without  an  inhabitant. 
Here  they  opened  another  dockyard,  in  which  was  built  the  Royal 
George,  of  1200  tons,  the  largest  ship  up  to  that  time  constructed 
in  England. 


164 


INDIA 


1640-1663 

The  English  factory  at  Hugh  in  Bengal  was  established  in  1650. 
At  about  the  same  time,  in  consequence  of  professional  services 
rendered  by  Gabriel  Boughton,  surgeon  of  the  Hopewell,  to  the 
Mogul  governor  of  Bengal,  concessions  were  made  to  the  Company 
which  placed  the  factories  at  Balasor  and  Hugh  on  a  more  favorable 
footing.  In  1647  Courten's  Association  established  its  colony  at 
Assada,  in  Madagascar.  In  1652  England  declared  war  against 
the  Dutch  on  account  of  their  accumulated  injuries  against  the 


English  Company.  In  1658  the  Company  established  a  factory  at 
Kasimbazar,  spelled  Castle  Bazaar  in  the  records,  near  the  head  of 
the  Ganges  delta,  and  adjacent  to  Murshidabad,  the  residence  of 
the  nawabs  of  Bengal  from  1704  onward,  and  the  English  es- 
tablishments in  Bengal  were  made  subordinate  to  Fort  Saint  George, 
or  Madras,  instead  of  to  Bantam. 

In  1 66 1  Bombay  was  ceded  to  the  British  crown  as  part  of 
the  dower  of  Catharine  of  Braganza,  but  was  not  delivered  up 
until  1665.  King  Charles  II.  transferred  it  to  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, for  an  annual  payment  of  ten  pounds,  in  1668.    The  seat  of 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  165 

1665-1686 

the  western  presidency  was  removed  to  it  from  Surat  in  1684- 
1687. 

The  Company's  establishments  in  the  East  Indies  thus  consisted 
in  1668  of  the  presidency  of  Bantam  in  Java,  with  its  dependencies 
of  Jambi  in  Sumatra,  Macassar  in  Celebes,  and  minor  agencies  in 
the  Indian  archipelago;  Fort  Saint  George  and  its  dependent  fac- 
tories on  the  Coromandel  coast  and  in  Bengal;  Surat  with  its 
affiliated  dependency  of  Bombay ;  and  factories  at  Broach,  Ahmada- 
bad,  and  other  places  in  India;  also  at  Gombroon,  or  Bandar 
Abbas,  and  Bussorah  in  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Euphrates  Valley. 
In  1664  Surat  was  pillaged  by  the  Maratha  Sivaji,  but  Sir  George 
Oxenden  bravely  defended  the  English  factory;  and  the  Mogul 
emperor,  in  admiration  of  his  conduct,  granted  the  Company  an 
exemption  from  customs  for  one  year.  In  165 1  the  Company  had 
occupied  the  Island  of  Saint  Helena  in  the  South  Atlantic,  and 
after  twice  losing  it  to  the  Dutch  reconquered  it  in  1673  and 
received  the  grant  of  it  by  royal  charter.  The  island  remained  in 
possession  of  the  Company  until  1834  with  the  exception  of  the 
period  of  Napoleon's  exile. 

In  1 68 1  Bengal  was  separated  from  Madras,  and  Mr.,  after- 
ward Sir,  William  Hedges,  arrived  at  Hugh,  the  chief  Bengal  fac- 
tory, in  July,  1682,  as  the  newly  appointed  "  agent  and  governor  "  of 
the  Company's  affairs  "  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal,"  and  of  the  factories 
subordinate  to  it,  at  Kasimbazar,  Patna,  Balasor,  Maldah,  and  Dacca. 
With  him  came  a  corporal  of  approved  fidelity,  with  twenty 
soldiers,  to  be  a  guard  to  the  agent's  person  at  the  factory  of  Hugh, 
and  to  act  against  interlopers.  Mr.  Hedges's  "  Diary,"  from  the 
signing  of  his  commission  in  November,  1681,  to  his  return  to  Eng- 
land in  April,  1687,  has  been  edited,  with  valuable  notes  and  com- 
mentaries, by  the  late  Sir  Henry  Yule,  and  presents  a  very  remark- 
able picture  of  life  and  government  in  India  at  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  In  1684,  at  the  termination  of  Hedges's 
governorship,  Bengal  reverted  to  the  control  of  Madras  until  1700, 
when  it  finally  became  an  independent  presidency.  In  1686 
Kasimbazar,  in  common  with  the  other  factories  in  Bengal,  had 
been  condemned  to  confiscation  by  the  nawab,  Shaista  Khan,  who 
presumed  upon  his  relationship  to  the  Mogul  imperial  family  to  act 
with  great  independence  and  show  of  authority  during  the  absence 
of  Aurangzeb  on  his  long  campaign  in  southern  India.  The  Hugh 
factory  was  much  oppressed,  and  finally  on  December  20,  1686,  the 


166  INDIA 

1686-1690 

Company's  agent,  Job  Charnock,  and  the  council  were  forced  by 
the  exactions  of  the  nawab  to  quit  the  factory  and  retire  down  the 
river  to  Sutanati,  now  Calcutta.  Broken  in  spirit  by  the  oppres- 
sions of  the  Moguls,  the  Company  resolved  to  abandon  the  fac- 
tories in  Bengal.  In  1688  Captain  Heath  of  the  Resolution,  in 
command  of  the  Company's  forces,  embarked  all  its  servants  and 
goods,  sailed  down  the  Hugh,  and  anchored  off  Balasor  on  the 
Orissa  coast.  In  February,  1690,  the  Company  made  terms  with 
the  Moguls  and  secured  an  imperial  firman  renewing  all  their 
rights  of  trade.  Charnock,  acting  upon  this,  secured  from  the  new 
nawab  a  renewal  of  the  old  arrangements,  but  instead  of  establish- 
ing the  Company's  capital  in  Bengal  at  Hugh  as  of  old,  he  selected 
Sutanati,  where  he  had  tarried  in  1686,  and  on  August  24,  1690, 
arrived  there  and  laid  the  foundation  of  Calcutta  as  the  new  capital 
of  the  English  in  Bengal.  After  two  years  and  a  half  of  bitter 
hardships  Charnock  died,  but  his  work  had  been  done  and  the 
English  interests  had  been  placed  upon  a  secure  foundation  and 
prospered  continuously  from  that  time. 

The  foundation  of  Calcutta  as  a  fortified  factory  of  the  Com- 
pany was  only  one  instance  of  the  important  change  in  the  Com- 
pany's affairs  at  this  date.  The  wars  of  Aurangzeb  in  southern 
India  and  the  raids  of  the  Marathas  had  made  it  clear  to  a  few 
keen  observers  that  the  disruption  of  the  Mogul  empire  was 
imminent,  and  that  the  Company  must  take  measures  to  consolidate 
its  interests  in  places  which  could  be  fortified  to  advantage  and 
which  should  be  fully  accessible  to  the  Company's  ships  at  all 
times.  This  had  determined  the  location  of  Calcutta.  Madras 
had  been  similarly  located  by  Francis  Day,  but  the  other  stations 
on  the  Coromandel  coast  were  not  located  with  reference  to  de- 
fensibility  and  so  fell  victims  of  native  raids  as  did  Vizagapatam 
and  Masulipatam  in  1689.  In  1683  trade  had  been  opened  at  Cud- 
dalore,  a  hundred  miles  below  Madras,  and  the  advantage  of  the 
position  led  to  the  establishment  by  the  Company  of  Fort  Saint 
David  or  Tegnapatam  just  north  of  the  town  as  another  fortified 
factory  on  this  coast.  Elihu  Yale,  a  native  of  New  England  and 
later  the  benefactor  of  Yale  College,  was  the  governor  of  Madras 
at  this  time  (1687-1692).  Mention  should  also  be  made  of  his 
predecessor,  Sir  Streynsham  Master  (1677-1681)  and  of  his  suc- 
cessor, Thomas  Pitt  (1698- 1709),  the  grandfather  of  the  Earl  of 
Chatham,  as  governors  whose  strong  personalities  and  valuable 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  167 

1662-1690 

services  have  left  an  impress  upon  the  history  of  the  English  in 
India. 

During  this  critical  period,  when  the  Company's  position  on 
the  eastern  coast  of  India  was  undergoing  reconstruction  and  when 
the  Company  was  finally  driven  from  the  Indian  archipelago  by  the 
Dutch,  who  captured  Bantam  in  1682,  a  similar  crisis  developed  in 
the  Company's  affairs  on  the  western  coast  of  India.  Surat  was 
open  to  constant  raids  by  the  Marathas  and  was  beyond  the  pro- 
tection of  the  guns  of  the  Company's  ships,  and  the  other  factories 
were  no  better  placed,  while  Bombay  was  not  safe  from  Mogul 
and  Maratha  fleets,  and  was  moreover  the  scene  of  insurrection  led 
by  the  third  member  of  council,  Richard  Keigwin,  an  officer  of  the 
royal  navy,  from  December,  1683,  to  November,  1684.  The  Com- 
pany's interests  on  this  coast  were,  however,  in  the  hands  of  strong 
men  with  the  genius  and  courage  necessary  to  cope  with  the  condi- 
tions. Sir  George  Oxenden,  who  had  been  president  at  Surat  since 
1662  and  had  taken  over  the  governorship  of  Bombay  on  its 
acquisition  by  the  Company  in  1668,  died  at  Surat  in  1669  and  was 
succeeded  in  the  double  office  by  Gerald  Aungier,  who  laid  the 
foundations  of  Bombay's  importance.  When  Aungier  died  in  the 
harness  at  Surat  in  1677,  no  worthy  successor  appeared  until  John 
Child  assumed  the  duties  of  governor  and  general  in  October, 
1 68 1.  Though  frequently  called  governor-general  in  the  con- 
temporary documents,  and  after  1686  possessing  authority  over  all 
the  English  settlements  in  India,  Sir  John  Child  never  had  the 
official  title  of  governor-general. 

The  Keigwin  revolt  at  Bombay  led  Charles  II.  to  support  the 
Company  in  the  appointment  of  Child  as  admiral  and  captain- 
general  of  the  Company's  forces  on  land  and  sea,  with  orders  to 
suppress  the  rebellion  and  to  remove  the  headquarters  from  Surat 
to  Bombay.  Order  was  reestablished  at  Bombay  in  1684,  and  in 
1687  Child,  who  had  been  knighted  two  years  before,  completed 
the  removal  of  the  presidency  to  Bombay  which  has  since  remained 
the  capital  of  the  British  on  the  western  coast.  Child  dealt  with 
the  interlopers  in  no  lenient  manner;  and  toward  the  natives, 
whether  Maratha  or  Mogul,  he  carried  out  a  strong  and  consistent 
policy.  His  early  years  had  been  spent  in  the  country  of  the 
Marathas  so  that  he  understood  their  power  and  their  position.  He 
saw  the  peril  of  the  Mogul  empire  and  dared  to  adopt  toward  it  a 
policy  of  hostility  that  amounted  to  war,  in  order  to  enforce  his 


168  INDIA 

1674-1699 

demands  on  behalf  of  the  Company;  but  in  February,  1690,  he  was 
fain  to  demand  peace  from  Aurangzeb,  who  renewed  the  Com- 
pany's trading  privileges  on  condition  of  Child's  dismissal.  Child 
had  already  died  at  Bombay  on  the  4th  of  that  month.  Thanks  to 
the  efficient  services  of  men  like  Child  and  Charnock  the  English 
in  India  had  weathered  the  period  of  storm  and  stress  and  had  suc- 
cessfully laid  the  foundations  of  England's  power  at  Calcutta, 
Madras,  and  Bombay,  the  three  presidency  towns  around  which 
the  empire  of  the  British  in  India  was  to  be  built  up  in  the  two  suc- 
ceeding centuries. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  government  in  London  and  the 
directors  of  the  Company  there  resident  had,  in  general,  but  little 
conception  of  the  problems  which  faced  their  subordinates  in  India 
and  were  puzzled  to  understand  what  relation  building  fortifica- 
tions and  fighting  Moguls  or  Marathas  had  to  buying  and  selling 
goods  for  the  Company.  Fortunately,  at  the  crucial  moment,  there 
was  in  control  of  the  Company  in  London  a  man  who  had  the 
political  insight  which  the  moment  demanded.  This  was  Sir  Josia 
Child,  born  in  1630,  the  son  of  a  London  merchant.  After  being 
mayor  of  Portsmouth,  where  he  had  been  in  the  naval  stores  busi- 
ness, he  purchased  Wanstead  Abbey,  now  a  part  of  the  London 
park  system.  In  1674  he  became  a  director  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany and  held  that  office  with  the  exception  of  1676  until  his  death 
in  1699.  He  was  created  a  baronet  in  1678.  Though  the  change 
from  a  commercial  to  an  imperial  policy  is  generally  attributed  to 
the  Childs,  they  were  not  solely  responsible  for  it,  and  had  at  first 
given  their  support  to  the  old  theory.  Sir  Josia  Child  seems  to 
have  been  the  largest  single  stockholder  in  the  East  India  Company 
and  to  have  been  able  to  control  a  considerable  number  of  other 
shares,  so  that  for  several  years  he  was  able  to  dominate  the  Com- 
pany's councils,  to  the  intense  disgust  of  the  minority  interests  and 
of  the  interlopers.  Sir  Josia  was  a  vigorous  and  original  thinker 
on  economic  and  political  problems,  as  his  writings  and  acts  testify, 
and  the  mutual  cooperation  of  the  two  brilliant  and  aggressive 
brothers,  Sir  Josia  in  London  as  a  director  of  the  Company  con- 
tinuously from  1677  to  1699  and  as  the  governor  of  the  Company 
in  1681-1682  and  1686-1687,  and  Sir  John  in  Bombay  as  governor 
and  general  from  1681  to  1690,  is  shown  not  only  in  the  results 
already  indicated,  but  also  in  the  statements  of  the  Company's  policy 
made  during  this  decade. 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  169 

1684-1699 

Two  or  three  quotations  from  the  letters  of  the  court  of  di- 
rectors must  suffice  to  indicate  this  new  policy  of  the  Company. 
On  July  2,  1684,  they  wrote,  "  Though  our  business  is  only  trade 
and  security,  not  conquest  which  the  Dutch  have  aimed  at,  we  dare 
not  trade  boldly,  nor  leave  great  stocks  .  .  .  where  we  have  not 
the  security  of  a  fort."  On  December  12,  1687,  they  wrote  to  the 
council  at  Madras  that  they  look  to  them,  "  in  a  most  especiall 
manner  "  to  "  establish  such  a  Politie  of  civill  and  military  power, 
and  create  and  secure  such  a  large  Revenue  as  may  bee  the  founda- 
tion of  a  large,  well-grounded,  sure  English  Dominion  in  India 
for  all  Time  to  come  ; "  and  yet  they  add  on  August  2j  of  the 
next  year,  "  we  would  have  you  do  no  wrong  or  violence  to  any 
in  amity  with  us  .  .  .  Just  and  Stout  is  the  motto  we 
hope  to  deserve  and  wear."  In  1689,  England  placed  on  the 
throne  William  of  Orange,  stadtholder  of  the  United  Netherlands, 
and  Mary  Stuart  his  wife,  and  adopted  the  Bill  of  Rights ;  and  on 
September  1 1  of  that  year  the  court  of  directors  wrote  to  Sir  John 
Child  and  his  council :  "  The  increase  of  our  revenue  is  the  sub- 
ject of  our  care,  as  much  as  our  trade ;  'tis  that  must  maintain  our 
force  when  twenty  accidents  may  interrupt  our  trade ;  'tis  that  must 
make  us  a  nation  in  India.  Without  that  we  are  but  a  great  num- 
ber of  interlopers,  united  by  His  Majesty's  royal  charter,  fit  only 
to  trade  where  nobody  of  power  thinks  it  their  interest  to  prevent 
us.  And  upon  this  account  it  is  that  the  wise  Dutch,  in  all  their 
general  advices  that  we  have  seen,  write  ten  paragraphs  concern- 
ing their  government,  their  civil  and  military  policy,  warfare,  and 
the  increase  of  their  revenue,  for  one  paragraph  they  write  con- 
cerning trade."  The  subsequent  history  of  the  English  East  India 
Company  and  its  settlements  will  be  narrated  in  the  next  chapter. 

The  Portuguese  at  no  time  attempted  to  found  a  company,  but 
kept  their  eastern  trade  as  a  royal  enterprise  and  monopoly.  The 
first  incorporated  company  was  the  English,  established  in  1600, 
which  was  quickly  followed  by  the  Dutch  in  1602.  The  Dutch 
conquests,  however,  were  made  in  the  name  of  the  state,  and  ranked 
as  national  colonies,  not  as  semi-commercial  possessions.  Next 
came  the  French,  whose  first  East  India  Company  was  founded  in 
1604;  the  second  in  161 1 ;  the  third  in  1615  ;  the  fourth,  Richelieu's, 
in  1642,  and  the  fifth,  Colbert's,  in  1664.  The  early  French  Com- 
panies consisted  of  trading  adventurers,  who  left  no  establishments 
in  India ;  and  when,  after  the  troublous  period  of  the  Fronde,  Louis 


170  INDIA 

1650-1761 

XIV.  was  firmly  seated  on  the  throne  of  France,  it  was  to  the 
Island  of  Bourbon  or  Reunion  and  Madagascar  that  the  king's 
ministers  looked  for  a  field  for  commercial  expansion.  The  Island 
of  Bourbon  was  occupied  about  1650,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to 
form  settlements  in  Madagascar.  Colbert,  however,  hoped  to  win 
a  share  in  the  profitable  India  trade,  and  the  fifth  French  East  India 
Company  was  founded  by  him  in  1664,  with  the  intention  of  rivaling 
the  success  of  the  English  and  the  Dutch  in  India  itself.  Pondi- 
cherri  was  acquired  by  Francois  Martin  in  1674,  and  Chandarnagar, 
on  the  Hugh  about  25  miles  above  Calcutta  and  just  below  Hugh 
and  Chinsurah,  in  1688;  but  want  of  support  from  France  brought 
the  Company's  affairs  in  India  to  a  very  low  ebb,  and  the  Company 
felt  obliged  to  cede  its  right  of  monopoly  to  some  enterprising 
merchants  of  Saint-Malo.  The  brilliant  schemes  of  Law  drew  fresh 
attention  to  the  Indian  trade,  and  the  powers,  possessions,  and  assets 
of  Colbert's  Company  were  taken  over  by  his  great  Company  of 
the  West,  which  is  chiefly  remembered  by  its  project  of  developing 
the  colony  of  Louisiana  in  America.  On  the  downfall  of  Law,  a 
sixth  East  India  Company  was  formed  by  the  union  of  the  French 
East  and  West  India,  Senegal,  and  China  Companies,  under  the 
name  of  "The  Perpetual  Company  of  the  Indies,"  in  1719.  The 
exclusive  privileges  of  this  Company  were,  by  the  French  king's 
decree,  suspended  in  1769 ;  and  the  Company  was  finally  abolished 
by  the  National  Assembly  in  1790. 

In  February,  1701,  Pondicherri  was  made  the  capital  of  the 
French  settlements  in  India,  and  Frangois  Martin  was  appointed 
president  of  the  superior  council  and  director  general  of  French 
affairs  in  India.  Martin  died  December  30,  1706,  and  his  successors 
as  governors-general  of  the  French  Indies  assumed  office  as  follows : 
Dulivier,  January  1,  1707;  Hebert,  July,  1708;  Dulivier,  again, 
October,  171 3;  Hebert,  again,  171 5;  La  Provostiere,  August  19, 
1718;  Lenoir,  October,  1721;  Beauvallier  de  Courchant,  October 
6,  1723;  Lenoir,  again,  September  4,  1726;  Benoit  Dumas,  Septem- 
ber 19,  1735;  Joseph  Dupleix,  October,  1741;  Godeheu,  August  2, 
1754;  Duval  de  Leyrit,  March  25,  1755.  Pondicherri  was  captured 
by  the  English  on  January  16,  1761 ;  and  since  then  the  French 
colonies  in  India  have  been  unimportant.  Dumas  and  Dupleix  first 
conceived  the  idea  of  founding  an  Indian  empire  upon  the  ruins  of 
the  Mogul  dynasty ;  and  for  a  time  the  French  nation  successfully 
contended  with  the  English  for  the  supremacy  in  the  East.    In  each 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  171 

1612-1772 

of  the  great  European  wars  beginning  with  the  War  of  the  League 
of  Augsburg  in  1688,  but  more  fully  with  the  War  of  the  Austrian 
Succession  in  1740,  and  ending  with  the  Napoleonic  wars  in  181 5, 
France  was  opposed  by  England  and  in  several  instances  also  by 
the  Dutch.  Each  of  these  wars  had  a  counterpart  in  struggles  in 
India.  The  crucial  test  was  the  Seven  Years'  War,  which  ruined  the 
French  empire  in  India. 

The  French  settlements  in  India  have  an  area  of  about  196 
square  miles  and  a  population  of  273,185  in  190 1,  and  are  five  in 
number,  Pondicherri,  Karikal,  Chandarnagar,  Mahe,  and  Yanaon. 
Karikal  is  on  the  Coromandel  coast  about  75  miles  south  of  Pondi- 
cherri; Yanaon  is  on  the  same  coast  on  the  Godavari  delta;  and 
Mahe  is  on  the  Malabar  coast  a  few  miles  from  Tellicherri.  The 
imports  in  1902  amounted  to  more  than  $800,000  and  the  exports 
to  more  that  $5,500,000.  The  French  government  is  obliged  to 
make  an  annual  subvention  to  meet  the  deficit  in  the  budget  of  its 
Indian  possessions. 

The  first  Danish  East  India  Company  was  formed  in  1612, 
and  the  second  in  1670.  The  settlements  of  Tranquebar,  on  the 
Coromandel  coast  about  150  miles  south  of  Madras,  and  just  north 
of  Karikal,  and  Serampur  on  the  Hugh  about  15  miles  above  Cal- 
cutta, were  both  founded  in  16 16,  and  acquired  by  the  English  by 
purchase  from  Denmark  in  1845.  Tranquebar  was  the  seat  of  the 
first  Protestant  mission  in  India,  founded  in  1706  by  the  Lutherans, 
Ziegenbalz  and  Pliitschau ;  and  Serampur  was  the  scene  of  the  labors 
of  William  Carey  and  other  famous  Baptist  missionaries.  Other 
Danish  settlements  on  the  mainland  of  India  were  Porto  Novo  on 
the  Coromandel  coast  about  120  miles  south  of  Madras;  with 
Eddova  and  Holcheri  on  the  Malabar  coast.  The  Company  started 
by  the  Scotch — "  The  Company  of  Scotland  trading  to  Africa  and 
the  Indies " — incorporated  by  the  Scottish  parliament,  June  26, 
1695,  may  be  regarded  as  having  been  stillborn.  Its  chief  pro- 
moter was  William  Paterson,  the  founder  of  the  Bank  of  England. 
Its  only  undertaking  was  the  ill-fated  Darien  colony  in  America. 

The  "  Royal  Company  of  the  Philippine  Islands,"  incorporated 
by  the  king  of  Spain  in  1733,  had  little  to  do  with  India  proper. 

Of  more  importance  was  the  Ostend  Company,  incorporated 
by  the  Holy  Roman  emperor  in  1722;  its  factors  and  agents  being 
chiefly  persons  who  had  served  in  the  Dutch  and  English  Com- 
panies.    This  enterprise   forms  the  subject  of  Carlyle's  "  Third 


172  INDIA 

1717-1722 

Shadow  Hunt "  of  the  Emperor  Charles  VI.  "  The  Kaiser's  Im- 
perial Ostend  East  India  Company,  which  convulsed  the  diplomatic 
mind  for  seven  years  to  come,  and  made  Europe  lurch  from  side 
to  side  in  a  terrific  manner,  proved  a  mere  paper  company;  never 
sent  ships,  only  produced  diplomacies,  and  '  had  the  honor  to  be.'  " 
These  picturesque  paragraphs  from  Carlyle's  "  History  of  Fried- 
rich  the  Second,"  do  not  disclose  the  facts.  The  Ostend  Company 
formed  the  one  great  attempt  of  the  Holy  Roman  empire,  then 
with  Austria  at  its  head,  to  secure  a  share  of  the  Indian  trade.  It 
not  only  sent  ships,  but  it  also  founded  two  settlements  in  India 
which  threatened  the  commerce  of  the  older  European  companies. 
One  of  its  settlements  was  at  Coblom  or  Covelong,  between  the 
English  Madras  and  the  Dutch  Sadras,  on  the  southeastern  coast. 
The  older  was  at  Bankipur,  or  Banky-bazaar,  on  the  Hugh  River, 
between  the  English  Calcutta  and  the  Dutch  Chinsurah.  Each  of 
these  German  settlements  was  regarded  with  hatred  by  the  English 
and  Dutch;  and  with  a  more  intense  fear  by  the  less  successful 
French,  whose  adjacent  settlements  at  Pondicherri  on  the  Madras 
coast,  and  at  Chandarnagar  on  the  Hugh,  were  also  threatened  by 
the  Ostend  Company. 

So  far  from  the  German  association  being  "  a  mere  paper  com- 
pany," and  never  sending  ships,  as  Carlyle  supposes,  its  formation 
was  the  result  of  a  series  of  successful  experimental  voyages.  In 
1 71 7  Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy,  the  famous  general,  and  governor- 
general  of  the  Austria  Netherlands,  ordered  two  vessels  to  sail  for 
India,  under  the  protection  of  his  own  passports.  The  profits  of  the 
expedition  led  to  others  in  succeeding  years,  and  each  voyage  proved 
so  fortunate  that  the  emperor  found  it  necessary  to  protect  and 
consolidate  the  property  of  the  adventurers  by  a  charter  in  1722. 
This  deed  granted  to  the  Ostend  Company  more  favorable  terms 
than  any  of  the  other  European  companies  enjoyed.  Its  capital 
was  six  million  gulden;  which  at  the  present  rate  would  be  $2,412,- 
000,  but  the  relative  value  would  give  a  considerably  larger  sum, 
and  so  great  were  its  profits  during  its  first  years  that  its  shares 
brought  in  15  per  cent.  The  French,  Dutch,  and  English  Com- 
panies loudly  complained  of  its  factories,  built  at  their  very  doors, 
both  on  the  Hugh  River  and  on  the  Madras  coast.  These  com- 
plaints were  warmly  taken  up  by  their  respective  governments  in 
Europe. 

The    object  which   the   Emperor  Charles   VI.   had   in  view 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  173 

1722-1733 

was  political  not  less  than  commercial.  The  Catholic  Netherlands, 
now  Belgium,  in  which  Ostend  is  situated,  formed  a  part  of  the  Holy 
Roman  empire.  By  the  Treaties  of  Rastatt  and  Baden  in  17 14  they 
passed  from  Spain  to  Austria.  Charles  VI.  was  at  the  same  time 
ruler  of  the  Catholic  Netherlands  and  Austria  and  Holy  Roman 
emperor.  Thus  his  interests  in  the  Ostend  Company  were  Belgian, 
Austrian,  and  Imperial,  hence  the  apparent  confusion  in  his  aims 
for  the  Company.  The  wrath  of  the  English  and  Dutch  was  height- 
ened by  the  fact  that  the  success  of  their  arms  had  given  the 
Belgian  provinces  to  Charles  VI. 

In  1 719  the  Austrian  Oriental  Trading  Company  was  organ- 
ized to  trade  within  the  Austrian  dominions  and  from  Austrian 
ports,  with  its  headquarters  at  Trieste  and  Fiume,  but  after  a  few 
years  it  declined  and  about  1740  ceased  to  exist.  Prince  Eugene 
had  urged  that  an  Indian  company  might  be  made  to  form  the 
nucleus  of  an  Austrian  fleet,  with  a  first-class  naval  station  at 
Ostend  on  the  North  Sea,  and  another  at  Fiume  or  Trieste  on  the 
Adriatic.  Such  a  fleet  would  complete  the  greatness  of  Austria 
by  sea  as  by  land;  and  would  render  her  independent  of  the  mari- 
time powers,  especially  of  England  and  the  Dutch.  The  empire 
would  at  length  put  its  ports  on  the  Baltic  and  the  Adriatic  to  a 
proper  use,  and  wo^ld  thenceforth  exert  a  commanding  maritime 
influence  in  Europe. 

The  existing  maritime  powers  objected  to  this ;  and  the  Ostend 
Company  became  the  shuttlecock  of  European  diplomacy  for  the 
next  five  years.  The  Dutch  and  the  English  felt  themselves  par- 
ticularly aggrieved.  They  pleaded  the  Treaties  of  Westphalia  and 
Utrecht.  After  long  and  loud  altercations,  the  emperor  sacrificed 
the  Ostend  Company  in  1727  to  gain  the  acceptance  of  a  project 
nearer  his  heart — the  Pragmatic  Sanction  for  the  devolution  of 
his  hereditary  dominions.  To  save  his  honor,  the  sacrifice  at  first 
took  the  form  of  a  suspension  of  the  company's  charter  for  seven 
years,  but  the  company  was  doomed  by  the  maritime  powers.  Its 
shareholders  did  not,  however,  despair.  They  made  attempts  to 
transfer  their  European  center  of  trade  to  Hamburg,  Trieste,  Tus- 
cany and  even  Sweden. 

Meanwhile  the  other  European  companies  in  Bengal  had  taken 
the  law  into  their  own  hands.  They  stirred  up  the  Mohammedan 
government  against  the  newcomers.  In  1733,  the  Mohammedan 
military  governor  of  Hugh  picked  a  quarrel,  in  the  name  of  the 


174.  INDIA 

1733-1751 

Delhi  emperor,  with  the  little  Belgian  settlement  at  Bankipur,  which 
lay  about  eight  miles  below  Hugh  town  on  tr\e  opposite  side  of 
the  river.  The  Mohammedan  troops  besieged  Bankipur;  and  the 
garrison,  reduced  to  fourteen  persons,  after  a  despairing  resistance 
against  overwhelming  numbers,  abandoned  the  place  and  set  sail 
for  Europe.  The  Ostend  agent  lost  his  right  arm  by  a  cannon  ball 
during  the  attack;  and  the  Ostend  Company,  together  with  the 
Austrian  interests  which  it  represented,  became  thenceforward 
merely  a  name  in  Bengal.  Its  chief  settlement,  Bankipur  or  Banky- 
bazaar,  has  long  disappeared  from  the  maps ;  and  I  could  only  trace 
its  existence  from  a  chart  of  the  eighteenth  century,  aided  by  the 
records  of  that  period,  and  by  repeated  personal  inquiry  on  the  spot. 
The  Ostend  Company,  however,  still  prolonged  its  existence  in 
Europe.  After  a  miserable  struggle  it  became  bankrupt  in  1784; 
and  was  finally  extinguished  by  the  arrangements  made  at  the 
renewal  of  the  English  East  India  Company's  charter  in  1793. 

What  the  emperor  had  failed  to  effect,  Frederick  the  Great, 
king  of  Prussia,  resolved  to  accomplish.  Having  gained  possession 
of  East  Friesland  in  1744,  he  tried  to  convert  its  capital,  Embden, 
into  a  great  northern  port.  Among  other  measures,  he  gave  his 
royal  patronage  to  the  Asiatic  Trading  Company,  started  September 
1,  1750,  and  founded  the  Bengalische  Handelsgesellschaft  on  Jan- 
uary 24,  1753.  The  first  of  these  companies  had  a  capital  of 
$853,000;  but  six  ships  sent  successively  to  China  only  defrayed 
their  own  expenses,  and  yielded  a  profit  of  ten  per  cent,  in  seven 
years.  The  Bengal  Company  of  Embden  proved  still  more  un- 
fortunate; its  existence  was  summed  up  in  two  expeditions  which 
did  not  pay,  and  in  a  long  and  costly  lawsuit. 

The  failure  of  Frederick  the  Great's  efforts  to  secure  for 
Prussia  a  share  in  the  Indian  trade  resulted  to  some  extent  from 
the  jealousy  of  the  rival  European  companies  in  India.  The  Dutch, 
French,  and  English  pilots  refused  to  show  the  way  up  the  dan- 
gerous Hugh  River  to  the  Embden  ships,  "  or  any  other  not  belong- 
ing to  powers  already  established  in  India."  It  is  due  to  the 
European  companies  to  state  that  in  thus  refusing  pilots  to  the  new- 
comers, they  were  carrying  out  the  orders  of  the  native  government 
of  Bengal  to  which  they  were  then  strictly  subject.  "If  the 
Germans  come  here,"  the  nawab  of  Murshidabad  had  written, 
August  19,  1 75 1,  to  the  English  merchants  on  a  rumor  of  the 
first  Embden  expedition  reaching  India,  "  it  will  be  very  bad  for 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  175 

1731-1778 

all  the  Europeans,  but  for  you  worst  of  all,  and  you  will  afterward 
repent  it;  and  I  shall  be  obliged  to  stop  all  your  trade  and  busi- 
ness. .  .  .  Therefore  take  care  that  these  German  ships  do  not 
come." 

"  God  forbid  that  they  should  come,"  was  the  pious  response 
of  the  president  of  the  English  council;  "but  should  this  be 
the  case,  I  am  in  hopes  they  will  be  either  sunk,  broke,  or  de- 
stroyed." 

They  came,  nevertheless,  and  some  years  later  the  English 
court  of  directors  complained  that  their  Bengal  servants  were 
anxious  to  trade  privately  with  the  Embden  Company.  "  If  any 
of  the  Prussian  ships,"  wrote  the  court,  March  25,  1756,  "want 
the  usual  assistance  of  water,  provisions,  or  real  necessaries,  they 
are  to  be  supplied  according  to  the  customs  of  nations  in  amity 
one  with  the  other.  But  you  are  on  no  pretense  whatsoever  to  have 
any  dealings  with  them,  or  give  the  least  assistance  in  their  mer- 
cantile affairs." 

The  truth  is  that  the  Prussian  Company  had  effected  an 
entrance  into  Bengal,  and  found  the  French,  English,  and  Dutch 
merchants  quite  willing  to  trade  with  it  on  their  private  account, 
but  the  Prussian  investments  were  made  without  experience,  and 
the  Embden  Company  was  before  long  sacrificed  by  the  Prussian 
king  to  the  exigencies  of  his  European  diplomacy. 

The  last  nation  of  Europe  to  engage  in  maritime  trade  with 
India  was  Sweden.  When  the  Ostend  Company  was  suspended,  a 
number  of  its  servants  were  thrown  out  of  employment.  Henry 
Koning,  of  Stockholm,  took  advantage  of  their  knowledge  of 
the  East,  and  obtained  a  charter  for  the  Swedish  Company, 
dated  June  13,  1731.  The  headquarters  of  the  company  were  at 
Gothenburg,  and  between  1731  and  1778  it  sent  seventy-six  ships 
to  China,  three  to  Bengal,  and  three  to  Surat.  The  profits  at  first 
were  large,  but  gradually  fell  off.  This  company  was  reorganized 
in  1806,  but  did  little;  and,  after  many  troubles,  disappeared  from 
India. 

Such  is  a  summary  of  the  efforts  by  European  nations  to  ob- 
tain a  share  in  the  India  trade.  The  Portuguese  failed,  because 
they  attempted  a  task  altogether  beyond  their  strength :  the  conquest 
and  conversion  of  India.  Their  memorials  are  the  epic  of  "  The 
Lusiad,"  the  death-roll  of  the  Inquisition,  an  indigent  half-caste 
population,  and  three  decayed  patches  of  territory  on  the  Bombay 


176  INDIA 

1778-1800 

coast.  The  Dutch  failed  on  the  Indian  continent  because  their 
trade  was  based  on  a  monopoly  which  it  was  impossible  to  maintain, 
except  by  great  and  costly  armaments.  Their  monopoly,  however, 
still  flourishes  in  their  isolated  island  dominion  of  Java.  The 
French  failed,  in  spite  of  the  brilliancy  of  their  arms  and  the  genius 
of  their  generals,  from  want  of  steady  support  at  home.  Their 
ablest  Indian  servants  fell  victims  to  a  corrupt  court  and  a  careless 
people.  Their  surviving  settlements  disclose  that  talent  for  careful 
administration,  which,  but  for  French  monarchs  and  their  minis- 
ters and  their  mistresses,  might  have  been  displayed  throughout  a 
wide  Indian  empire. 

The  German  companies,  whether  Austrian  or  Prussian,  were 
sacrificed  to  the  diplomatic  necessities  of  their  royal  patrons  in 
Europe,  and  to  the  dependence  of  the  German  states  in  the  wars 
of  the  eighteenth  century  upon  the  maritime  powers,  but  the  Ger- 
mans have  never  abandoned  the  struggle.  The  share  in  the  Indian 
trade  which  Prussian  king  and  Austrian  kaiser  failed  to  grasp 
in  the  eighteenth  century  has  been  gradually  acquired  by  German 
merchants  in  our  own  day.  An  important  part  of  the  commerce 
of  Calcutta  and  Bombay  is  now  conducted  by  German  firms.  Ger- 
man mercantile  agents  are  to  be  found  in  the  rice  districts,  the  jute 
districts,  the  cotton  districts;  and  persons  of  German  nationality 
have  rapidly  increased  in  the  Indian  census  returns. 

England  emerged  the  prize-winner  from  the  long  contest  of 
the  European  nations  for  India.  Her  success  was  partly  the  good 
gift  of  fortune,  but  chiefly  the  result  of  four  elements  in  the  na- 
tional character.  There  was:  first,  a  marvelous  patience  and  self- 
restraint  in  refusing  to  enter  on  territorial  conquests  or  projects 
of  Indian  aggrandizement,  until  she  had  gathered  strength  enough 
to  succeed.  Second,  an  indomitable  persistence  in  those  projects 
once  they  were  entered  on;  and  a  total  incapacity,  on  the  part  of 
her  servants  in  India,  of  being  stopped  by  defeat.  Third,  an  ad- 
mirable mutual  confidence  of  the  Company's  servants  in  each  other 
in  times  of  trouble.  Fourth,  and  chief  of  all,  the  resolute  support 
of  the  English  nation  at  home.  England  has  never  doubted  that 
she  must  retrieve,  at  whatever  strain  to  herself,  every  disaster  which 
may  befall  Englishmen  in  India,  and  she  has  never  sacrificed  the 
work  of  her  Indian  servants  to  the  exigencies  of  her  diplomacy  in 
Europe.  She  was  the  only  European  power  which  unconsciously, 
but  absolutely,  carried  out  these  two  principles  of  policy.     The 


EUROPEAN     SETTLEMENTS  177 

1800 

result  of  that  policy,  pursued  during  three  centuries,  is  the  British 
India  of  to-day. 

Though  England  has  made  herself  the  paramount  power  in 
India  and  has  successfully  for  more  than  a  century  excluded  all 
other  powers  from  political  intervention  in  India,  she  has  not  mo- 
nopolized for  her  merchants  the  trade  of  India,  and  especially  since 
the  transfer  of  India  from  the  Company  to  the  crown  in  1858 
has  maintained  what  has  come  to  be  known  as  "  the  open  door." 
Traders  of  all  nations  enter  the  markets  of  India  on  a  par  with 
Englishmen  and  now  control  a  large  proportion  of  the  trade.  Of 
India's  sea-borne  trade  in  1902-1903,  exclusive  of  treasure  and 
government  stores,  forty-one  per  cent,  only  was  with  the  United 
Kingdom,  nine  per  cent,  with  China,  five  per  cent,  with  France, 
six  per  cent,  with  Germany,  and  four  and  one-half  per  cent,  with 
the  United  States.  The  total  shipping  entered  and  cleared  to  for- 
eign countries  at  Indian  ports  during  1902-1903  was  10,926,560 
tons,  an  increase  of  thirteen  per  cent,  as  compared  with  the  previ- 
ous year.  The  number  of  natives  of  continental  European  states 
resident  in  British  India,  exclusive  of  the  native  states,  has  steadily 
increased  in  recent  years.  In  1872  the  number  was  2554,  but  had 
increased  to  5278  in  1881,  and  5868  in  1891. 


Chapter  XIII 

GROWTH    OF   BRITISH    POWER.     1700-1805 

THE  political  history  of  the  British  in  India  begins  in  the 
eighteenth  century  with  the  French  wars  in  the  Karnatik. 
It  was  at  Arcot,  in  the  Madras  presidency,  that  Clive's 
star  first  shone  forth;  and  it  was  on  the  field  of  Wandiwash  in 
the  same  presidency  that  the  French  dream  of  an  Indian  empire 
was  forever  shattered.  Fort  St.  George,  or  Madras,  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  first  territorial  possession  of  the  English  on  the  main- 
land of  India,  having  been  founded  by  Francis  Day  in  1639.  The 
French  settlement  of  Pondicherri,  about  100  miles  lower  down  the 
Coromandel  coast,  was  established  in  1674;  and  for  many  years  the 
English  and  French  traded  side  by  side  without  rivalry  or  terri- 
torial ambition. 

On  the  death  of  the  Mogul  emperor,  Aurangzeb,  in  1707, 
southern  India  gradually  became  independent  of  Delhi.  In  the 
Deccan  proper,  the  Nizam-ul-Mulk  founded  a  hereditary  dynasty, 
with  Haidarabad  for  its  capital,  which  exercised  a  nominal  author- 
ity over  the  entire  south.  The  Karnatik,  or  the  lowland  tract  be- 
tween the  central  plateau  and  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  was  ruled  by  a 
deputy  of  the  nizam,  known  as  the  nawab  of  Arcot,  who  in  his  turn 
asserted  claims  to  hereditary  sovereignty.  Farther  south,  Trichin- 
opoli  was  the  capital  of  a  Hindu  raja;  Tanjore  formed  another 
Hindu  kingdom  under  a  degenerate  descendant  of  the  Maratha 
leader,  Sivaji.  Inland,  Mysore  was  gradually  growing  into  a  third 
Hindu  state;  while  everywhere  local  chieftains,  called  palegars  or 
nayaks,  were  in  semi-independent  possession  of  citadels  or  hill- 
forts.  These  represented  the  feudal  chiefs  or  fief-holders  of  the 
ancient  Hindu  kingdom  of  Vijayanagar;  and  many  of  them  had 
maintained  a  practical  independence,  subject  to  irregular  payments 
of  tribute,  since  the  fall  of  that  kingdom  in  1565. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  in  southern  India  when  war 
broke  out  between  the  English  and  the  French  in  Europe  in  1743. 
Dupleix  was  at  that  time  French  governor  of  Pondicherri  and 

1T8 


BRITISH     POWER  179 

1743-1748 

Give  was  a  young  civil  servant  or  "  writer  "  at  Madras.  Joseph 
Frangois  Dupleix  was  born  at  Landrecies,  France,  in  1697.  He 
was  a  son  of  a  director  of  the  French  East  India  Company  and 
joined  the  Company's  service  at  Pondicherri  in  1720.  He  was 
governor-general  of  the  French  possessions  in  India  from  1742 
to  1754,  and  died  discredited  and  poverty-striken  in  Paris  on  No- 
vember 10,  1764.  Robert  Clive  was  born  in  Shropshire,  England, 
on  September  29,  1725,  and  was  appointed  a  writer  in  the  service 
of  the  East  India  Company  in  1743,  and  reached  Madras  in  the 
following  year.  In  1747  he  was  commissioned  ensign  in  the  Com- 
pany's army.  He  was  governor  of  Bengal  from  1758  to  1760  and 
from  1765  to  1767.  In  addition  to  his  career  in  India,  it  may  be 
noted  that  he  was  created  Baron  Clive  of  Plassey  in  the  Irish  peer- 
age in  1762.     He  died  by  his  own  hand  on  November  22,  1774. 

An  English  fleet  appeared  first  on  the  Coromandel  coast,  but 
Dupleix  by  a  judicious  present  induced  the  nawab  of  Arcot  to 
interpose  and  forbid  hostilities.  In  1746  a  French  squadron  ar- 
rived, under  the  command  of  Bertrand  Frangois  Mahe  de  la  Bour- 
donnais,  the  famous  French  governor  of  the  Isle  de  France,  or 
Mauritius,  from  1735  to  1746.  Madras  surrendered  to  it  almost 
without  a  blow;  and  the  only  settlement  left  to  the  English  was 
Fort  St.  David,  some  miles  south  of  Pondicherri,  where  Clive  and 
a  few  other  fugitives  sought  shelter.  The  nawab  of  Arcot,  faithful 
to  his  impartial  policy,  marched  with  10,000  men  to  drive  the 
French  out  of  Madras,  but  was  defeated  by  Paradis  at  Saint 
Thome,  now  a  southern  suburb  of  Madras,  on  November  4,  1746. 
In  1748  an  English  fleet  arrived  under  Admiral  Boscawen,  and 
attempted  the  siege  of  Pondicherri,  while  a  land  force  cooperated 
under  Major  Stringer  Lawrence,  known  as  the  "  Father  of  the 
Indian  Army."  The  French  repulsed  all  attacks;  but  the  Treaty 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  the  same  year,  restored  Madras  to  the  Eng- 
lish, to  compensate  for  the  retrocession  to  France  of  Louisburg  in 
North  America,  which  had  been  captured  by  the  English  in  1745. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  two  wars  in  the  Karnatik 
were  merely  parts  of  two  great  world-wide  struggles,  the  War  of 
the  Austrian  Succession,  1740- 1748,  and  the  Seven  Years'  War, 
1 756- 1 763.  In  Europe  the  central  fact  in  each  of  these  wars  was 
the  struggle  between  Frederick  the  Great  and  Maria  Theresa  for 
Silesia;  in  America  and  in  Asia  and  upon  the  seas,  the  great  fact 
was  the  struggle  between  England  and  France  for  maritime  su- 


180  INDIA 

1748-1760 

premacy  and  colonial  empire.  The  earlier  struggle  was  indeci- 
sive and  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  merely  a  truce  which 
was  violated  by  both  parties  before  the  war  was  formally  renewed 
in  1756.  In  France  the  chief  minister,  Choiseul,  was  baffled  by 
the  intrigues  of  Louis  XV.  and  the  incapability  of  the  French 
generals.  Until  the  crisis  of  the  struggle  was  past  England  loy- 
ally supported  William  Pitt,  and  England's  success  in  the  three- 
fold struggle  was  due  to  his  masterly  policy  and  to  the  ability  of 
the  subordinates  whom  he  selected  to  carry  it  out.  The  first  war 
with  the  French  was  merely  an  incident  in  the  greater  contest  in 
Europe.  The  second  war  had  its  origin  in  Indian  politics,  while 
England  and  France  were  at  peace.  The  easy  success  of  the 
French  arms  had  inspired  Dupleix  with  the  ambition  of  founding 
a  French  empire  in  India,  under  the  shadow  of  the  Mohammedan 
powers.  Disputed  successions  among  the  reigning  families  both 
at  Haidarabad  and  at  Arcot  gave  him  his  opportunity.  On  both 
thrones  Dupleix  placed  nominees  of  his  own,  and  for  a  time  he 
posed  as  the  arbiter  of  the  entire  south.  In  boldness  of  concep- 
tion, and  in  knowledge  of  oriental  diplomacy,  Dupleix  has  prob- 
ably had  no  equal,  but  he  was  no  soldier,  and  he  was  destined  to 
encounter  in  the  field  the  "  heaven-born  genius  "  of  Clive.  The 
English  of  Madras,  under  the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  had 
maintained  the  cause  of  another  candidate  to  the  throne  of  Arcot, 
in  opposition  to  the  nominee  of  Dupleix.  Their  candidate  was 
Mohammed  Ali,  afterward  known  in  history  as  Wala-jah. 

The  war  which  ensued  between  the  French  and  English  in 
southern  India  has  been  exhaustively  described  by  Orme.  The 
one  incident  that  stands  out  conspicuously  is  the  capture  and  sub- 
sequent defense  of  Arcot  by  Clive  in  1751.  This  heroic  feat,  even 
more  than  the  battle  of  Plassey,  spread  the  fame  of  English  valor 
throughout  India.  Shortly  afterward  Clive  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  ill-health,  but  the  war  continued  fitfully  for  many  years. 
On  the  whole,  the  English  influence  predominated  in  the  Karnatik 
or  Madras  coast,  and  their  candidate,  Mohammed  Ali,  maintained 
his  position  at  Arcot,  but,  inland,  the  French  were  supreme  in 
southern  India,  and  they  were  also  able  to  seize  the  maritime  tract 
called  the  Northern  Circars. 

The  final  struggle  did  not  take  place  until  1760.  In  that  year, 
Colonel  Coote  won  the  decisive  victory  of  Wandiwash,  which  is  in 
the  hills  fifty-eight  miles  southwest  of  Madras  and  about  equi- 


BRITISH     POWER  181 

1760-1763 

distant  from  Pondicherri.  He  then  proceeded  to  invest  Pondi- 
cherri,  which  was  starved  into  capitulation  in  January,  1761.  A 
few  months  later  the  hill  fortress  of  Ginji  also  surrendered.  In 
the  words  of  Orme,  "  that  day  terminated  the  long  hostilities  be- 
tween the  two  rival  European  powers  in  Coromandel,  and  left  not 
a  single  ensign  of  the  French  nation  avowed  by  the  authority  of 
its  government  in  any  part  of  India." 

By  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  February  10,  1763,  Pondicherri  and 
certain  other  factories  were  restored  to  the  French  with  narrow 
territorial  limits,  but  the  French  were  deprived  of  their  military 
and  political  influence  in  Indian  affairs.  Thrice  after  this  Pondi- 
cherri and  its  dependencies  were  seized  by  England  in  time  of  war 
and  restored  at  the  peace.  The  present  territorial  position  of 
France  in  India  is  determined  by  the  treaties  of  18 14  and  181 5, 
which  gave  Pondicherri,  Chandarnagar,  Karikal,  Mahe,  and 
Yanaon  to  France.  The  commercial  relations  of  the  French  in 
India  are  determined  by  the  conventions  of  March  7,  181 5,  and  of 
May  13,  1818.  Toward  the  close  of  the  Seven  Years'  War  the 
negotiation  of  the  Family  Compact  made  Spain  a  party  to  the  war 
as  the  ally  of  France.  For  this  reason  an  expedition  under  General 
Draper  and  Admiral  Cornish  sailed  from  Madras  and  captured 
Manila  on  October  6,  1762.  This  event  was  unknown  in  Europe 
when  the  Treaty  of  Paris  was  signed  and  so  Manila  and  the 
Philippines  remained  in  the  hands  of  Spain. 

Meanwhile  the  narrative  of  British  conquests  shifts  with  Clive 
to  Lower  Bengal.  At  the  time  of  Aurangzeb's  death,  in  1707,  the 
nawab  or  governor  of  Lower  Bengal  was  Murshid  Kuli  Khan, 
known  also  in  European  history  as  Jafar  Khan.  By  birth  a  Brah- 
man, and  brought  up  as  a  slave  in  Persia,  he  united  the  adminis- 
trative ability  of  a  Hindu  to  the  fanaticism  of  a  renegade. 
Hitherto  the  capital  of  Lower  Bengal  had  been  at  Dacca,  on  the 
eastern  frontier  of  the  empire,  whence  the  piratical  attacks  of  the 
Portuguese  and  of  the  Arakanese  or  Maghs  could  be  most  easily 
checked.  Murshid  Kuli  Khan  transferred  his  residence  to  Mur- 
shidabad,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Kasimbazar,  which 
was  then  the  river  port  of  the  Gangetic  trade.  The  English,  the 
French,  and  the  Dutch  had  each  factories  at  Kasimbazar,  as  well 
as  at  Dacca,  Patna,  and  Maldah,  but  Calcutta  was  the  separate 
headquarters  of  the  English,  Chandarnagar  of  the  French,  and 
Chinsurah  of  the  Dutch,  these  three  towns  being  situated  not  far 


182  INDIA 

1707-1763 

from  one  another  on  the  lower  reaches  of  the  Hugli,  where  the 
river  was  navigable  for  sea-going  ships.  Murshid  Kuli  Khan 
ruled  over  Lower  Bengal  prosperously  for  twenty-one  years,  and 
left  his  power  to  a  son-in-law  and  a  grandson.  The  hereditary 
succession  was  broken  in  1740  by  AH  Vardi  Khan,  a  usurper,  but 
the  last  of  the  great  nawabs  of  Bengal.  In  his  days  the  Maratha 
horsemen  ravaged  the  country,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Calcutta 
obtained  permission  in  1742  to  erect  an  earthwork,  known  to  the 
present  day  as  the  Maratha  Ditch. 

AH  Vardi  Khan  died  in  1756,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
grandson,  Siraj-ud-daula  (Surajah  Dowlah),  a  youth  of  only 
eighteen  years,  whose  ungovernable  temper  led  to  a  rupture  with 
the  English  within  two  months  after  his  accession.  In  pursuit  of 
one  of  his  own  family  who  had  escaped  from  his  vengeance,  he 
marched  upon  Calcutta  with  a  large  army.  Many  of  the  English 
fled  down  the  river  in  their  ships.  The  remainder  surrendered 
after  some  resistance,  and  were  thrust  for  the  night  into  the 
"  Black  Hole "  or  military  jail  of  Fort  William,  a  room  about 
eighteen  feet  square,  with  only  two  small  windows  barred  with 
iron.  It  was  the  ordinary  garrison  prison  in  those  times  of  cruel 
military  discipline,  but  although  the  nawab  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  aware  of  the  consequences,  it  meant  death  to  a  crowd  of  Eng- 
lish men  and  women  in  the  stifling  heats  of  June.  When  the  door 
of  the  prison  was  opened  next  morning,  only  23  persons  out  of  146 
remained  alive.  There  seems  to  have  been  but  one  woman  in  the 
Black  Hole  and  she  was  one  of  the  survivors.  The  victims  in- 
cluded, besides  the  English,  other  Europeans  and  natives. 

The  news  of  this  disaster  fortunately  found  Clive  back  again 
at  Madras,  where  also  was  a  squadron  of  king's  ships  under  Ad- 
miral Watson.  Clive  and  Watson  promptly  sailed  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Ganges  with  all  the  troops  they  could  get  together.  Calcutta 
was  recovered  with  .little  fighting ;  and  the  nawab  consented  to  a 
peace,  which  restored  to  the  English  Company  all  their  privileges, 
and  gave  them  ample  compensation  for  their  losses. 

It  is  possible  that  matters  might  have  ended  thus,  if  a  fresh 
cause  of  hostilities  had  not  suddenly  arisen.  War  had  just  been 
declared  between  the  English  and  French  in  Europe;  and  Clive, 
following  the  traditions  of  warfare  in  the  Karnatik,  captured  the 
French  settlement  of  Chandarnagar  on  the  Hugli.  Siraj-ud-daula, 
enraged  by  this  breach  of  neutrality  within  his  dominions,  sided 


BRITISH     POWER  183 

1757-1763 

with  the  French,  but  Clive,  again  acting  upon  the  policy  which  he 
had  learned  from  Dupleix  in  southern  India,  provided  himself  with 
a  rival  candidate,  Mir  Jafar,  for  the  throne.  Undaunted,  he 
marched  out  to  the  grove  of  Plassey,  about  70  miles  north  of  Cal- 
cutta, at  the  head  of  1000  Europeans  and  2000  sepoys,  with  8 
pieces  of  artillery.  The  Bengal  viceroy's  army  numbered  35,000 
foot  and  15,000  horse,  with  50  cannon.  Clive  is  said  to  have 
fought  in  spite  of  his  council  of  war.  The  truth  is,  he  could 
scarcely  avoid  a  battle.  The  nawab  attacked  with  his  whole  ar- 
tillery at  6  A.  M. ;  but  Clive  kept  his  men  well  under  shelter, 
"  lodged  in  a  large  grove,  surrounded  with  good  mud-banks."  At 
noon  the  enemy  drew  off  into  their  intrenched  camp  for  dinner. 
Clive  only  hoped  to  make  a  "  successful  attack  at  night."  Mean- 
while, the  enemy  being  probably  undressed  over  their  cooking- 
pots,  he  sprang  upon  one  of  their  advanced  posts,  which  had 
given  him  trouble,  and  stormed  "  an  angle  of  their  camp."  Sev- 
eral of  the  nawab's  chief  officers  fell.  The  nawab  himself,  dis- 
mayed by  the  unexpected  confusion,  fled  on  a  camel;  his  troops 
dispersed  in  a  panic;  and  Clive  found  he  had  won  a  great  victory. 
Mir  Jafar's  cavalry,  which  had  hovered  undecided  during  the  bat- 
tle, and  had  been  repeatedly  fired  on  by  Clive,  "  to  make  them  keep 
their  distance,"  now  joined  the  English  camp;  and  the  road  to 
Murshidabad,  the  nawab's  capital,  lay  open. 

The  battle  of  Plassey  was  fought  on  June  23,  1757,  an  an- 
niversary afterward  remembered  when  the  Mutiny  of  1857  was  at 
its  height.  History  has  agreed  to  adopt  this  date  as  the  beginning 
of  the  British  empire  in  the  East ;  but  the  immediate  results  of  the 
victory  were  comparatively  small,  and  several  years  passed  in  hard 
fighting  before  even  the  Bengalis  would  admit  the  superiority  of 
the  British  arms.  For  the  moment,  however,  all  opposition  was 
at  an  end.  Clive,  again  following  in  the  steps  of  Dupleix,  placed 
his  nominee,  Mir  Jafar,  upon  the  viceregal  throne  at  Murshidabad, 
as  nawab  of  Bengal.  Enormous  sums  were  exacted  from  Mir 
Jafar  as  the  price  of  his  elevation.  The  Company  claimed 
15,000,000  rupees  ($5,500,000)  as  compensation  for  its  losses. 
For  the  English,  Hindu,  and  Armenian  inhabitants  of  Calcutta 
were  demanded,  respectively,  5,000,000,  2,000,000,  700,000  rupees ; 
for  the  naval  squadron  and  the  army,  2,500,000  rupees  apiece.  The 
members  of  the  council  were  promised  the  following  amounts :  Drake, 
the  governor,  and  Colonel  Clive,  as  second  member  of  the  select  com- 


184  INDIA 

1757-1765 

mittee,  280,000  rupees  each ;  and  Becker,  Watts,  and  Major  Kilpat- 
rick,  240,000  rupees  each.  Colonel  Clive  also  received  200,000  rupees 
as  commander  in  chief,  and  1,600,000  rupees  "  as  a  private  dona- 
tion." Additional  "  donations  "  were  likewise  made  to  the  other 
members  of  the  council,  amounting  in  the  case  of  Watts  to  800,000 
rupees.  The  first  four  of  these  items  are  taken  from  the  treaty  with 
Mir  Jafar.  The  remaining  figures  are  from  the  testimony  before 
the  Parliamentary  investigating  committee,  and  it  is  not  alto- 
gether clear  what  the  exact  amount  of  the  personal  gifts  was.  As- 
suming that  the  total  given  is  correct,  it  would  have  amounted  to 
about  $13,000,000.  The  English  still  cherished  extravagant  ideas 
of  Indian  wealth.  But  no  funds  existed  to  satisfy  their  inordinate 
demands,  and  they  had  to  be  content  with  Mir  Jafar's  promise  to 
pay  one-half  down  and  the  balance  in  three  years,  and  even  of  this 
reduced  amount  one-third  had  to  be  taken  in  jewels  and  plate,  there 
being  neither  coin  nor  ingots  left. 

At  the  same  time  the  new  nawab  of  Bengal  made  a  grant  to 
the  Company  of  the  zamindari  or  landholder's  rights  over  an  ex- 
tensive tract  of  country  round  Calcutta,  now  known  as  the  district 
of  the  Twenty-Four  Parganas.  A  pargana  is  a  subdivision  of  a 
district.  The  Twenty-Four  Parganas  include  the  country  imme- 
diately surrounding  Calcutta,  but  do  not  include  the  city.  The 
area  of  this  tract  was  882  square  miles,  but  has  been  increased 
by  later  additions.  In  1757  the  Company  obtained  only  the  zamin- 
dari rights,  that  is,  the  right  to  collect  the  cultivator's  rents,  to- 
gether with  the  revenue  jurisdiction  attached,  subject  to  the 
obligation  of  paying  over  the  assessed  land  tax  to  the  nawab,  as 
the  representative  of  the  Delhi  emperor.  In  1759  the  land  tax 
also  was  granted  by  the  emperor,  the  nominal  suzerain  of  the 
nawab,  in  favor  of  Clive,  who  thus  became  the  landlord  of  his  own 
masters,  the  Company.  This  military  fief,  or  Clive's  jagir,  as  it 
was  called,  subsequently  became  a  matter  of  inquiry  in  England. 
Lord  Clive's  claims  to  the  property  as  feudal  suzerain  over  the 
Company  were  contested  by  it  in  1764;  but  finally,  in  1765,  when 
he  returned  to  Bengal,  a  new  deed  was  issued,  confirming  the  un- 
conditional jagir  to  Lord  Clive  for  ten  years,  with  reversion  after- 
ward to  the  Company  in  perpetuity.  This  deed,  having  received 
the  Delhi  emperor's  sanction  on  August  12,  1765,  gave  absolute 
validity  to  the  original  jagir  grant  in  favor  of  Lord  Clive.  It 
transferred  eventually  to  the  Company  the  Twenty-Four  Parganas 


BRITISH     POWER 


185 


1758-1765 

as  a  perpetual  property,  based  upon  a  jagir  grant.  The  annual 
sum  of  222,958  rupees,  the  amount  at  which  the  land-rent  was 
assessed  when  first  made  over  to  the  Company  in  1757,  was  paid 
to  Lord  Clive  from  1765  until  his  death  in  1774,  when  the  whole 
proprietary  right  reverted  to  the  Company. 

In  1758    Clive  was  appointed  by  the  court  of  directors  the 
first  governor  of  all  the  company's  settlements  in  Bengal.     Two 


powers  threatened  hostilities.  On  the  northwest,  the  shahzada  or 
imperial  prince,  afterward  the  Emperor  Shah  Alam,  with  a  mixed 
army  of  Afghans  and  Marathas,  and  supported  by  the  nawab  wazir 
of  .Oudh,  was  advancing  his  own  claims  to  the  province  of  Bengal. 
In  the  south,  the  influence  of  the  French  under  Lally  and  Bussy 
was  overshadowing  the  British  at  Madras.  The  name  of  Clive 
exercised  a  decisive  effect  in  both  directions.  The  nawab  of  Ben- 
gal, Mir  Jafar,  was  anxious  to  buy  off  the  shahzada,  who  had 


186  INDIA 

1758-1763 

already  invested  Patna,  but  Clive  marched  in  person  to  the  rescue, 
with  an  army  of  only  450  Europeans  and  2500  sepoys,  and  the 
Mogul  army  dispersed  without  striking  a  blow.  In  the  same  year 
Clive  dispatched  a  force  southward  under  Colonel  Forde,  which 
recaptured  Masulipatam  on  the  Madras  coast  from  the  French, 
and  permanently  established  British  influence  in  the  Northern  Cir- 
cars,  and  at  the  nizam's  court  of  Haidarabad  in  southern  India. 
Clive  next  attacked  the  Dutch,  the  only  other  European  nation 
who  might  yet  prove  a  rival  to  the  English.  He  defeated  them 
both  by  land  and  water;  and  their  settlement  at  Chinsurah  existed 
thenceforth  only  on  sufferance.  At  the  critical  moment  in  the 
Chinsurah  campaign  Forde  found  himself  unable  to  act  without 
fresh  instructions.  In  reply  to  his  urgent  message,  Clive,  who  was 
engaged  at  whist,  wrote  in  pencil  on  the  back  of  the  paper,  "  Dear 
Forde,  fight  them  immediately.  I  will  send  you  the  order  in  coun- 
cil to-morrow,"  and  continued  his  game. 

From  1760  to  1765  Clive  was  in  England.  He  had  left  no 
system  of  government  in  Bengal,  but  merely  the  tradition  that 
unlimited  sums  of  money  might  be  extracted  from  the  natives  by 
the  terror  of  the  English  name.  In  1761  it  was  found  expedient 
and  profitable  to  dethrone  Mir  Jafar,  the  nawab  of  Murshidabad, 
and  to  substitute  his  son-in-law,  Mir  Kasim,  in  his  place.  On  this 
occasion,  besides  private  donations,  the  English  received  a  grant 
of  the  three  districts  of  Bardwan,  Midnapur,  and  Chittagong, 
estimated  to  yield  a  net  revenue  of  half  a  million  sterling  a 
year. 

The  freshly  appointed  nawab  of  Bengal,  Mir  Kasim,  soon  be- 
gan to  show  a  will  of  his  own,  and  to  cherish  dreams  of  inde- 
pendence. He  retired  from  Murshidabad  to  Monghyr,  a  strong 
position  on  the  Ganges  which  commanded  the  line  of  communica- 
tion with  the  northwest.  There  he  proceeded  to  organize  an  army, 
drilled  and  equipped  after  European  models,  and  to  carry  on  in- 
trigues with  the  nawab  wazir  of  Oudh.  He  was  resolved  to  try 
his  strength  with  the  English,  and  he  found  a  good  pretext.  The 
Company's  servants  claimed  the  privilege  of  carrying  on  their 
private  trade  throughout  Bengal,  free  from  the  nawab's  inland 
imposts.  The  assertion  of  this  claim  caused  affrays  between  the 
customs  officers  of  the  nawab  and  the  native  traders,  who,  whether 
truly  or  not,  represented  that  they  were  acting  on  behalf  of  the 
servants   of  the   Company.     The   nawab   alleged   that   his   civil 


BRITISH    POWER  187 

1763-1765 

authority  was  everywhere  set  at  nought.  The  majority  of  the 
council  at  Calcutta  would  not  listen  to  his  complaints.  The  gov- 
ernor, Henry  Vansittart,  and  Warren  Hastings,  then  a  junior 
member  of  council,  attempted  to  effect  some  compromise,  but  the 
controversy  had  become  too  hot.  The  nawab' s  officers  fired  upon 
an  English  boat,  and  a  general  rising  against  the  English  took 
place.  In  June,  1763,  2000  sepoys  were  cut  to  pieces  at  Patna; 
about  200  Englishmen,  who  there  and  in  various  other  parts  of 
Bengal  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans,  were  massacred. 

As  soon  as  regular  warfare  commenced  Mir  Kasim  met  with 
no  more  successes.  His  trained  regiments  were  defeated  in  two 
pitched  battles  by  Major  Adams,  at  Gheria,  on  August  2,  and  at 
Udhunala,  on  September  5;  and  he  himself  took  refuge  with  the 
nawab  wazir  of  Oudh,  who  refused  to  deliver  him  up  to  the  Eng- 
lish. This  led  to  a  prolongation  of  the  war.  Shah  Alam,  who  had 
now  succeeded  his  father  as  emperor,  and  Shuja-ud-daula,  the 
nawab  wazir  of  Oudh,  united  their  forces,  and  threatened  Patna, 
which  the  English  had  recovered.  A  more  formidable  danger  ap- 
peared in  the  English  camp,  in  the  form  of  the  first  sepoy  mutiny. 
It  was  quelled  by  Major  Hector  Munro,  who  ordered  twenty-four 
of  the  ringleaders  to  be  blown  from  guns,  an  old  Mogul  punish- 
ment. On  October  23,  1764,  Major  Munro  won  the  decisive 
battle  of  Baxar,  about  seventy  miles  west  of  Patna,  which  laid 
Oudh  at  the  feet  of  the  conquerors,  and  brought  the  Mogul  em- 
peror, Shah  Alam,  as  a  suppliant  to  the  English  camp.  The  old 
deposed  nawab  of  Bengal,  Mir  Jafar,  was  brought  forth  from  his 
retirement,  and  was  again  appointed  nawab  in  place  of  Mir  Kasim, 
who  had  risen  against  the  English,  whose  council  in  Calcutta  had 
thus  twice  found  the  profitable  opportunity  which  they  loved,  of 
creating  a  new  nawab  of  Bengal,  and  of  receiving  the  donations 
and  large  sums  of  money  distributed  to  them  by  each  of  the  nawabs 
on  his  accession.  These  and  other  devices  by  which  the  English 
amassed  fortunes  in  India  gave  rise  to  the  expression,  "  to  shake 
the  pagoda  tree." 

In  1765  Lord  Clive  arrived  at  Calcutta,  as  governor  of  Ben- 
gal for  the  second  time.  Two  landmarks  stand  out  in  his  policy. 
First,  he  sought  the  substance,  although  not  the  name,  of  terri- 
torial power,  under  the  fiction  of  a  grant  from  the  Mogul  emperor. 
Second,  he  desired  to  purify  the  Company's  service,  by  prohibiting 
illicit  gains,   and  guaranteeing  a   reasonable  salary   from  honest 


188  INDIA 

1765-1767 

sources.  In  neither  respect  were  his  plans  carried  out  by  his  im- 
mediate successors,  but  English  efforts  at  good  government  in 
India  date  from  this  second  governorship  of  Clive  in  1765,  as 
their  military  supremacy  had  dated  from  his  victory  at  Plassey 
in  1757. 

Clive  advanced  rapidly  from  Calcutta  to  Allahabad,  and  there 
settled  in  person  the  fate  of  nearly  the  northern  half  of  India. 
Oudh  was  given  back  to  the  nawab  wazir,  on  condition  of  his  pay- 
ing half  a  million  sterling  toward  the  expenses  of  the  war.  The 
provinces  of  Allahabad  and  Kora,  lying  between  the  Ganges  and 
the  Jumna,  were  handed  over  to  the  Emperor  Shah  Alam,  who  in 
his  turn  granted  to  the  English  Company  the  fiscal  administra- 
tion of  Lower  Bengal,  Behar,  and  Orissa,  and  also  the  territorial 
jurisdiction  of  the  Northern  Circars.  A  puppet  nawab  was  still 
maintained  at  Murshidabad,  who  received  an  annual  allowance 
from  the  Company  of  600,000/.  Half  that  amount,  or  about 
300,000/.,  was  paid  to  the  emperor  as  tribute  from  Bengal,  Behar, 
and  Orissa.  Thus  was  constituted  the  dual  system  of  government, 
by  which  the  English  received  all  the  revenues  of  Bengal,  Behar, 
and  Orissa,  and  undertook  to  maintain  the  army;  while  the  crim- 
inal jurisdiction  was  vested  in  the  nawab.  In  Indian  phraseology, 
the  Company  was  diwan,  and  the  nawab  was  nizam.  The  actual 
collection  of  the  revenues  still  remained  for  seven  years  in  the 
hands  of  native  officials  (1765-1772). 

Give's  other  great  task  was  the  reorganization  of  the  Com- 
pany's service.  All  the  officers,  civil  and  military  alike,  were  tainted 
with  the  common  corruption.  Their  legal  salaries  were  paltry, 
and  quite  insufficient  for  a  livelihood,  but  they  had  been  permitted 
to  augment  them,  sometimes  a  hundredfold,  by  means  of  private 
trade  and  by  gifts  from  the  native  powers.  Despite  the  united 
resistance  of  the  civil  servants,  and  an  actual  mutiny  of  two  hun- 
dred military  officers,  Clive  carried  through  his  reforms.  Private 
trade  and  the  receipt  of  presents  were  prohibited  for  the  future, 
while  a  fair  increase  of  pay  was  provided  out  of  the  monopoly  of 
salt. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Mir  Jafar,  who  died  just  before 
Clive  reached  India,  had  bequeathed  to  Clive  a  large  sum.  As  the 
money  was  already  in  hand  and  as  he  could  not  honorably  accept 
it  under  the  new  order  forbidding  the  Company's  officials  to  accept 
presents  from  natives,  he  established  the  amount  as  a  fund  for 


WARREN     HASTINGS 

(Born    1732.      Died    1818) 

Painting  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 


BRITISH    POWER  189 

1767-1772 

disabled  officers  and  men  of  the  Company's  army.  This  fund, 
known  as  Lord  Clive's  Fund,  reverted  to  the  heirs  of  Clive  on  the 
dissolution  of  the  Company. 

Lord  Clive  quitted  India  for  the  third  and  last  time  in  1767. 
Between  that  date  and  the  governorship  of  Warren  Hastings,  in 
1772,  little  of  importance  occurred  in  Bengal,  beyond  the  terrible 
famine  of  1770,  which  is  officially  reported  to  have  swept  away 
one-third  of  the  inhabitants.  The  dual  system  of  government 
established  in  1765  by  Clive  had  proved  a  failure.  The  English 
were  the  real  rulers,  but  the  administration  of  the  districts  was  still 
carried  on  by  native  officials.  There  was  thus  a  divided  responsi- 
bility, and  when  any  disaster  occurred  it  was  impossible  to  find 
out  who  was  really  to  blame.  Even  the  distant  court  of  directors 
in  England  discerned  that  a  complete  change  had  become  neces- 
sary in  the  government  of  Bengal.  Warren  Hastings,  a  tried 
servant  of  the  company,  distinguished  alike  for  intelligence,  for 
probity,  and  for  knowledge  of  oriental  manners,  was  nominated 
governor  by  the  court  of  directors,  with  express  instructions  to 
carry  out  a  predetermined  series  of  reforms.  In  their  own  words, 
the  court  had  resolved  to  "  stand  forth  as  diwan,  and  to  take  upon 
themselves,  by  the  agency  of  their  own  servants,  the  entire  care 
and  administration  of  the  revenues."  In  the  execution  of  this  plan 
Hastings  removed  the  exchequer  from  Murshidabad  to  Calcutta, 
and  appointed  European  officers,  under  title  of  collectors,  to  super- 
intend the  collections  and  preside  in  the  revenue  courts. 

Clive  had  laid  the  territorial  foundations  of  the  British  empire 
in  Bengal.  Hastings  may  be  said  to  have  created  a  British  ad- 
ministration for  that  empire.  The  wars  forced  on  him  by  native 
powers  in  India,  the  clamors  of  his  masters  in  England  for  money, 
and  the  virulence  of  Philip  Francis  with  a  faction  of  his  colleagues 
at  the  council  table  in  Calcutta  retarded  the  completion  of  his 
schemes ;  but  the  manuscript  records  disclose  the  patient  statesman- 
ship and  indomitable  industry  which  he  brought  to  bear  upon  them. 
From  1765  to  1772  Clive's  dual  system  of  government,  by  corrupt 
native  underlings  and  rapacious  English  chiefs,  had  prevailed. 
Thirteen  years  were  now  spent  by  Warren  Hastings  in  experi- 
mental efforts  at  rural  administration  by  means  of  English  officials 
(1772- 1 785).  The  completion  of  the  edifice  was  left  to  his  suc- 
cessor. Hastings  was  the  administrative  organizer,  as  Clive  had 
been  the  territorial  founder,  of  England's  Indian  empire. 


190  INDIA 

1772-1773 

Hastings  rested  his  claims  as  an  Indian  ruler  on  his  adminis- 
trative work.  He  reorganized  the  Indian  service,  reformed  every 
branch  of  the  revenue  collections,  created  courts  of  justice  and 
laid  the  basis  of  a  police ;  but  history  remembers  his  name,  not  for 
his  improvements  in  the  internal  administration,  but  for  his  bold 
foreign  policy  in  dealing  with  the  native  states.  From  1772  to 
1774  he  was  governor  of  Bengal;  from  the  latter  date  to  1785  he 
was  the  first  governor-general  of  India,  presiding  over  a  council 
nominated,  like  himself,  under  a  statute  of  Parliament  known  as 
the  Regulating  Act  (1773).  Lord  North's  Regulating  Act  (13 
George  III.,  c.  63)  also  established  at  Calcutta  a  supreme  court  of 
judicature,  consisting  of  a  chief  justice  and  three  puisne  judges, 
to  administer  English  law  for  the  English  in  India.  The  first  chief 
justice  was  a  former  schoolfellow  of  Hastings,  Sir  Elijah  Impey, 
who  faithfully  cooperated  with  Hastings.  In  his  domestic  policy 
Hastings  was  greatly  hampered  by  the  opposition  of  his  colleague 
in  council,  Philip  Francis,  whom  he  ultimately  wounded  in  a  duel; 
but  in  his  external  relations  with  Oudh,  with  the  Marathas  and 
with  Haidar  Ali,  Hastings  was  generally,  although  not  always, 
able  to  compel  assent  to  his  views. 

His  relations  with  the  native  powers,  like  his  domestic  policy, 
formed  a  well-considered  scheme.  Hastings  had  to  find  money 
for  the  court  of  directors  in  England,  whose  thirst  for  the  wealth 
of  India  was  not  less  keen,  although  more  decorous,  than  that  of 
their  servants  in  Bengal.  He  had  also  to  protect  the  Company's 
territory  from  the  native  powers,  which,  if  he  had  not  destroyed 
them,  would  have  annihilated  him.  Beyond  the  Bengal  frontier 
a  group  of  Mohammedan  viceroys  or  governors  of  the  old  Mogul 
empire  had  established  independent  states,  the  most  important  of 
which  was  Oudh.  Beyond  this  group  of  Mohammedan  states  the 
Marathas  were  practically  the  masters  of  northern  India,  and  held 
the  nominal  emperor  of  Delhi  as  a  puppet  under  their  control.  The 
wise  policy  of  Warren  Hastings  was  to  ally  himself  with  the  in- 
dependent Mohammedan  states,  that  is  to  say  principally  with 
Oudh,  just  beyond  his  own  frontier.  If  he  could  make  these  Mo- 
hammedan states  strong,  he  hoped  that  they  would  prevent  the 
Marathas  from  pouring  down  into  Bengal;  but  these  Moham- 
medan states  were  themselves  so  weak  that  this  policy  only  ob- 
tained a  partial  success.  In  the  end  Warren  Hastings  found  him- 
self compelled  to  advance  the  British  territories  farther  up  the 


BRITISH     POWER  191 

1773-1774 

Ganges,  and  practically  to  bring  the  Mohammedan  states  under 
his  own  control. 

Warren  Hastings  had  in  the  first  place  to  make  Bengal  pay. 
This  he  could  not  do  under  Give's  dual  system  of  administration. 
When  he  abolished  that  double  system,  he  cut  down  the  nawab 
of  Bengal's  allowance  to  one-half,  and  so  saved  about  160,000/. 
($800,000)  a  year.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  titular  nawab,  being 
then  a  minor,  had  ceased  to  render  even  any  nominal  service  for 
his  enormous  income.  Clive  had  himself  reduced  the  original 
600,000/.  ($3,000,000)  to  450,000/.  ($2,250,000)  on  the  accession 
of  a  new  nawab  in  1766;  and  the  grant  was  again  cut  down  to  350,- 
000/.  ($1,750,000)  on  a  fresh  succession  in  1769.  The  allowance  had 
practically  been  of  a  fluctuating  and  personal  character.  Its  fur- 
ther reduction  in  1772  in  the  case  of  the  new  child-nawab  had, 
moreover,  been  expressly  ordered  by  the  court  of  directors  six 
months  before  Hastings  took  office  as  governor  of  Bengal. 

Hastings's  next  financial  stroke  was  to  stop  payment  of  the 
tribute  of  300,000/.  ($1,500,000)  to  the  Delhi  emperor,  which 
Clive  had  agreed  to,  in  return  for  the  grant  of  Bengal  to  the  Com- 
pany, for  the  emperor  had  now  been  seized  by  the  Marathas. 
Hastings  held  that  his  majesty  was  no  longer  independent,  and 
that  to  pay  money  to  the  emperor  would  practically  be  paying  it 
to  the  Marathas,  who  were  England's  most  formidable  enemies  in 
India,  and  whom  he  clearly  saw  that  the  English  would  have  to 
crush,  unless  they  were  willing  to  be  crushed  by  them.  Hastings 
therefore  withheld  the  tribute  from  the  puppet  emperor,  or  rather 
from  his  Maratha  custodians. 

On  the  partition  of  the  Gangetic  valley  in  1765,  Clive  had 
also  allotted  the  provinces  of  Allahabad  and  Kora  to  the  Emperor 
Shah  Alam.  The  emperor,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Marathas, 
made  them  over  to  his  new  masters.  Warren  Hastings  held  that 
by  so  doing  his  majesty  had  forfeited  his  title  to  these  provinces. 
Hastings  accordingly  resold  them  to  the  wazir  of  Oudh.  By  this 
measure  he  freed  the  Company  from  a  military  charge  of  nearly 
half  a  million  sterling,  and  obtained  a  price  of  over  half  a  million 
for  the  Company.  The  terms  of  sale  included  the  loan  of  British 
troops  to  subdue  the  Rohilla  Afghans,  who  had  seized  and  for 
some  time  kept  hold  of  a  tract  on  the  northwestern  frontier  of 
Oudh.  The  Rohillas  were  Mohammedans  and  foreigners;  they 
had  cruelly  lorded  it  over  the  Hindu  peasantry ;  and  they  were  now 


192  INDIA 

1774-1775 

intriguing  with  the  Marathas,  the  most  dangerous  foes  of  the 
English.  The  wazir  of  Oudh,  supported  by  the  British  troops 
lent  to  him  by  Hastings,  completely  defeated  the  Rohillas.  He 
compelled  most  of  their  fighting  men  to  seek  new  homes  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Ganges  River,  in  a  neighboring  and  equally  fertile 
district,  but  one  in  which  they  could  no  longer  open  the  northern 
frontier  of  Oudh  to  the  Marathas.  By  the  foregoing  series  of 
measures  Hastings  ceased  to  furnish  the  Maratha  custodians  of 
the  Delhi  emperor  with  the  Bengal  tribute;  he  also  strengthened 
the  English  ally,  the  wazir  of  Oudh,  and  closed  his  frontier  against 
Maratha  invasions;  he  bettered  the  Company's  finances  in  Bengal 
by  a  million  sterling  ($5,000,000)  a  year  in  both  its  revenue  and 
expenditure :  some  say  two  millions  per  annum. 

Hastings  further  improved  the  financial  position  of  the  Com- 
pany by  contributions  from  Chait  Singh  and  from  the  begam  of 
Oudh.  Chait  Singh,  the  raja  of  Benares,  had  grown  rich  under 
British  protection.  He  resisted  the  just  demand  of  Warren  Has- 
tings to  subsidize  a  military  force,  and  entered  into  correspondence 
with  the  enemies  of  the  British  government.  This  led  to  his  arrest. 
He  escaped,  headed  a  rebellion,  and  was  crushed.  His  estates  were 
forfeited,  but  transferred  to  his  nephew,  subject  to  an  increased 
tribute.  The  begam,  or  queen-mother,  of  Oudh  was  charged  with 
abetting  Chait  Singh,  the  Benares  raja,  in  his  rebellion.  A  heavy 
fine  was  laid  upon  her,  which  she  resisted  to  the  utmost,  but  after 
severe  pressure  on  herself  and  the  eunuchs  of  her  household,  over 
a  million  sterling  ($5,000,000)  was  obtained. 

On  his  return  to  England  Warren  Hastings  was  impeached 
by  the  House  of  Commons  for  these  and  other  alleged  acts  of 
oppression.  He  was  solemnly  tried  by  the  House  of  Lords,  and  the 
proceedings  dragged  themselves  out  for  seven  years  (1788- 1795). 
They  form  one  of  the  most  celebrated  state  trials  in  English  history, 
and  ended  in  a  verdict  of  not  guilty  on  all  the  charges.  Meanwhile 
the  cost  of  the  defense  had  ruined  Warren  Hastings,  and  left  him 
dependent  upon  the  generosity  of  the  court  of  directors,  a  gener- 
osity which  never  failed. 

The  Bombay  government  looked  with  envy  on  the  territorial 
conquests  of  Madras  and  Bengal.  It  accordingly  resolved  to  estab- 
lish its  supremacy  at  the  Maratha  court  of  Poona.  This  ambition 
found  scope,  in  1775,  by  the  Treaty  of  Surat,  by  which  Raghuba, 
one  of  the  claimants  to  the  headship  of  the  Marathas  as  peshwa, 


BRITISH     POWER  193 

1775-1781 

agreed  to  cede  Salsette  and  Bassein  to  the  English,  in  consideration 
of  being  himself  restored  to  Poona.  The  military  operations  that 
followed  are  known  as  the  first  Maratha  war.  Warren  Hastings, 
who  in  his  capacity  of  governor-general  claimed  a  right  of  control 
over  the  decisions  of  the  Bombay  government,  strongly  disap- 
proved of  the  Treaty  of  Surat,  but  when  war  actually  broke  out,  in 
1779,  he  threw  the  whole  force  of  the  Bengal  army  into  the  scale. 
One  of  his  favorite  officers,  Colonel  Goddard,  marched  across  the 
peninsula  of  India  from  sea  to  sea,  and  conquered  the  rich  province 
of  Gujarat  almost  without  a  blow.  Another,  Captain  Popham, 
stormed,  on  August  3,  1780,  the  rock-fortress  of  Gwalior,  which 
was  regarded  as  the  key  of  Hindustan.  These  brilliant  successes  of 
the  Bengal  troops  atoned  for  the  disgrace  of  the  Convention  of 
Wargaum  in  1779,  when  the  Marathas  had  overpowered  and  dic- 
tated terms  to  the  Bombay  force;  but  the  war  was  protracted  until 
1 78 1.  It  was  closed  in  1782  by  the  Treaty  of  Salbai,  which  prac- 
tically restored  the  status  quo.  Raghuba,  the  English  nominee  for 
the  peshwaship,  was  set  aside  on  a  pension ;  Gujarat  was  restored  to 
the  Marathas;  and  only  Salsette,  with  Elephanta  and  two  other 
small  islands  in  Bombay  harbor  was  retained  by  the  English. 

Meanwhile,  Warren  Hastings  had  to  deal  with  a  more  danger- 
ous enemy  than  even  the  Maratha  confederacy.  The  reckless  con- 
duct of  the  Madras  government  had  aroused  the  hostility  of  Haidar 
Ali  of  Mysore,  and  also  of  the  nizam  of  the  Deccan,  the  two  strong- 
est Mussulman  powers  in  India.  These  attempted  to  draw  the 
Marathas  into  an  alliance  against  the  English.  Haidar  Ali  began 
his  career  as  a  soldier  of  fortune  when  about  thirty  years  of  age 
in  1749,  and  soon  after  1760  he  had  made  himself  master  of 
Mysore.  He  became  an  implacable  foe  of  the  English,  whom  he 
sought  to  expel  from  India  through  the  combined  efforts  of  their 
foes. 

The  diplomacy  of  Hastings  won  back  the  nizam  and  the 
Maratha  raja  of  Nagpur;  but  the  army  of  Haidar  Ali  fell  like  a 
thunderbolt  upon  the  British  possessions  in  the  Karnatik.  A  strong 
detachment  under  Colonel  Baillie  was  cut  to  pieces  at  Perambakam, 
and  Haidar  Ali's  Mysore  cavalry  ravaged  the  country  up  to  the 
walls  of  Madras.  For  the  second  time  the  Bengal  army,  stimulated 
by  the  energy  of  Hastings,  saved  the  honor  of  the  English  name. 
He  dispatched  Sir  Eyre  Coote,  the  victor  of  Wandiwash,  to  relieve 
Madras  by  sea,  with  all  the  men  and  money  available,  while  Colonel 


194.  INDIA 

1781-1786 

Pearse  marched  south  overland  to  overawe  the  raja  of  Berar  and 
the  nizam.  The  war  was  hotly  contested,  for  the  aged  Sir  Eyre 
Coote  had  lost  his  energy,  and  the  Mysore  army  was  not  only  well 
disciplined  and  equipped,  but  skillfully  handled  by  Haidar  and  his 
son  Tipu.  Haidar  died  in  1782,  and  peace  was  finally  concluded 
with  Tipu  in  1784,  on  the  basis  of  a  mutual  restitution  of  all  con- 
quests. Warren  Hastings  retired  from  the  governor-generalship 
in  1785. 

Ever  since  the  humiliating  Treaty  of  Paris,  in  1763,  France 
had  been  smarting  to  avenge  herself  for  her  losses  in  America  and 
India  and  on  the  seas.  The  American  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  Burgoyne's  surrender  at  Saratoga  led  France  to  declare  war 
against  England  in  1778.  Early  naval  successes  led  France  to  seek 
the  recovery  of  her  power  in  India.  Suffren,  probably  the  greatest 
of  French  admirals,  was  sent  with  a  fleet  to  the  coast  of  India,  to 
cooperate  with  Haidar  Ali,  with  whom  the  French  had  long  been 
intriguing.  The  combats  between  Suffren  and  Hughes,  the  English 
commander,  fill  glorious  pages  in  the  naval  annals  of  both  nations. 
The  French  posts  in  India  were  seized  by  the  English,  but  were 
restored  by  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  in  1783  and  the  French  fleet 
was  withdrawn. 

Hastings's  administration  of  India,  and  the  acts  of  the  Com- 
pany, had  given  rise  to  questions  upon  which  parties  in  England 
had  taken  sides.  Parliamentary  investigations  led  to  new  legisla- 
tion. In  1783  Fox  introduced  a  bill  to  revise  the  system  of  adminis- 
tration, but  was  defeated  in  the  House  of  Lords.  The  younger  Pitt 
then  became  prime  minister  and  secured  the  passage  of  a  new  India 
bill  in  1784.  This  act,  somewhat  amended  at  various  times,  estab- 
lished the  system  of  dual  control  of  India  by  the  English  govern- 
ment and  the  English  East  India  Company,  which  continued  in 
operation  until  1858.  While  the  administration  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  company,  its  acts  were  sub- 
ject to  revision  by  a  board  of  control,  composed  of  six  privy  coun- 
cilors, one  of  whom,  the  president,  had  a  seat  in  the  cabinet  as 
secretary  of  state.  The  governor-general  and  a  few  other  high 
officers  were  appointed  by  the  crown,  but  the  remaining  patronage 
was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Company.  The  authority  of  the  gover- 
nor-general and  his  council  over  the  separate  presidencies  was  made 
complete  in  diplomatic,  military,  and  revenue  matters.  By  an 
amending  act  in  1786  the  governor-general  was  empowered  in  ex- 


BRITISH     POWER  195 

1786-1789 

traordinary  cases  to  act  on  his  own  responsibility,  even  in  opposi- 
tion to  his  council. 

In  1786  arrived  Lord  Cornwallis,  the  same  who  had  served  in 
America  and  who  was  now  the  first  English  nobleman  to  undertake 
the  office  of  governor-general  of  India.  Between  these  two  great 
names  an  interregnum  of  twenty  months  took  place  under  Sir  John 
Macpherson,  a  civil  servant  of  the  Company  (February,  1785,  to 
September,  1786).  John  Macpherson  was  born  in  1745  on  the  Isle 
of  Skye.  He  entered  the  East  India  Company's  service  in  1770 
and  became  a  member  of  the  governor-general's  council  in  1782.  As 
senior  member  of  council,  he  became  acting  governor-general  on 
Hastings's  departure  from  India  in  1785.  He  was  made  baronet  in 
1786  and  returned  to  England  after  the  arrival  of  Cornwallis.  He 
died  in  1821.  Lord  Cornwallis  twice  held  the  high  post  of  governor- 
general.  His  first  rule  lasted  from  1786  to  1793,  and  is  celebrated 
for  two  events,  the  introduction  of  the  Permanent  Settlement  into 
Bengal,  and  the  second  Mysore  war.  If  the  foundations  of  the 
system  of  civil  administration  were  laid  by  Hastings,  the  super- 
structure was  raised  by  Cornwallis.  He  made  over  the  higher 
criminal  jurisdiction  to  European  officers,  and  established  the 
nizamat  sadr  adalat,  or  supreme  court  of  criminal  judicature,  at 
Calcutta ;  in  the  rural  districts  he  separated  the  functions  of  revenue 
collector  and  civil  judge.  The  system  thus  organized  in  Bengal  was 
afterward  extended  to  Madras  and  Bombay,  when  those  presidencies 
also  grew  into  great  territorial  divisions  of  India. 

The  achievement  most  familiarly  associated  with  the  name  of 
Cornwallis  is  the  Permanent  Settlement  of  the  land  revenue  of 
Bengal.  Up  to  this  time  the  revenue  had  been  collected  pretty  much 
according  to  the  old  Mogul  system.  The  zamindars,  or  government 
farmers,  whose  office  always  tended  to  become  hereditary,  were 
recognized  as  having  a  right  to  collect  the  revenue  from  the  actual 
cultivators ;  but  no  principle  of  assessment  existed,  and  the  amount 
actually  realized  varied  greatly  from  year  to  year.  Hastings  tried 
to  obtain  experience,  from  a  succession  of  five  years'  settlements, 
so  as  to  furnish  a  standard  rate  for  the  future.  Philip  Francis,  the 
great  rival  of  Hastings,  advocated,  on  the  other  hand,  a  limitation 
of  the  state  demand  in  perpetuity.  The  same  view  recommended 
itself  to  the  authorities  at  home,  partly  because  it  would  place  their 
finances  on  a  more  stable  basis,  partly  because  it  seemed  to  identify 
the  zamindar  with  the  landlord  of  the  English  system  of  property. 


196  INDIA 

1789-1798 

Accordingly,  Cornwallis  took  out  with  him  in  1786  instructions  to 
introduce  a  permanent  settlement  of  the  land  tax  of  Bengal. 

The  process  of  assessment  began  in  1789,  and  terminated  in 
1 79 1.  No  attempt  was  made  to  measure  the  fields  or  calculate  the 
out-turn,  as  had  been  done  by  Akbar,  and  as  is  now  done  whenever 
settlements  are  made  in  the  British  provinces.  The  amount  to  be 
paid  in  the  future  was  fixed  by  reference  to  what  had  been  paid  in 
the  past.  At  first  the  settlement  was  decennial,  or  for  ten  years, 
but  in  1793  it  was  declared  permanent.  The  total  assessment 
amounted  to  26,800,989  sicca  rupees  ($16,000,000)  for  Bengal. 
Lord  Cornwallis  carried  the  scheme  into  execution;  but  the  praise 
or  blame,  so  far  as  details  are  concerned,  belongs  to  John  Shore,  a 
civil  servant,  whose  knowledge  of  the  country  was  unsurpassed  in 
his  time.  Shore  would  have  proceeded  more  cautiously  than  Corn- 
wallis's  preconceived  idea  of  a  proprietary  body,  and  than  the  court 
of  directors'  haste  after  fixity,  permitted. 

The  second  Mysore  war  of  1790- 1792  is  noteworthy  on  two 
accounts.  Lord  Cornwallis,  the  governor-general,  led  the  British 
army  in  person,  with  a  pomp  and  a  magnificence  of  supply  which 
recalled  the  campaigns  of  Aurangzeb.  The  two  great  southern 
powers,  the  nizam  of  the  Deccan  and  the  Maratha  confederacy, 
cooperated  as  allies  of  the  British.  In  the  end,  Tipu  Sultan  sub- 
mitted when  Lord  Cornwallis  had  commenced  to  beleaguer  his 
capital.  He  agreed  to  yield  one-half  of  his  dominions  to  be  divided 
among  the  allies,  and  to  pay  three  millions  sterling  ($15,000,000) 
toward  the  cost  of  the  war.  These  conditions  he  fulfilled,  but  ever 
afterward  he  burned  to  be  revenged  upon  his  English  conquerors. 
Lord  Cornwallis  retired  in  1793,  and  was  succeeded  by  Sir  John 
Shore. 

The  period  of  Sir  John  Shore's  rule  as  governor-general,  from 
1793  to  1798,  was  uneventful.  When  Shore  left  India  in  1798  Sir 
Alfred  Clarke,  as  senior  member  of  council,  became  acting  governor- 
general  until  the  arrival  of  Wellesley.  In  1798,  Lord  Mornington, 
better  known  as  the  Marquis  Wellesley,  arrived  in  India,  already 
inspired  with  imperial  projects  which  were  destined  to  change  the 
map  of  the  country.  Lord  Mornington  was  the  friend  and  favorite 
of  Pitt,  from  whom  he  is  thought  to  have  derived  his  far-reaching 
political  vision,  and  his  antipathy  to  the  French  name.  From  the 
first  he  laid  down  as  his  guiding  principle  that  the  English  must  be 
the  one  paramount  power  in  the  Indian  peninsula,  and  the  native 


BRITISH     POWER  197 

1798-1801 

princes  could  only  retain  the  insignia  of  sovereignty  by  surrendering 
their  political  independence.  The  history  of  India  since  his  time 
has  been  but  the  gradual  development  of  this  policy,  which  received 
its  finishing  touch  when  Queen  Victoria  was  proclaimed  empress 
of  India  on  January  i,  1877. 

To  frustrate  the  possibility  of  a  French  invasion  of  India,  led 
by  Napoleon  Bonaparte  in  person,  was  the  immediate  governing  idea 
of  Wellesley's  foreign  policy.  France  at  this  time,  and  for  many 
years  later,  filled  the  place  afterward  occupied  by  Russia  in  the 
minds  of  Indian  statesmen.  Nor  was  the  danger  so  remote 
as  might  now  be  thought.  The  nizam  of  Haidarabad  was  over- 
awed by  the  Frenchmen  who  officered  his  army.  The  soldiers  of 
Sindhia,  the  military  head  of  the  Maratha  confederacy,  were  disci- 
plined and  led  by  French  adventurers.  Tipu  Sultan  of  Mysore  car- 
ried on  a  secret  correspondence  with  the  French  Directory,  allowed 
a  tree  of  liberty  to  be  planted  in  his  dominions,  and  enrolled  himself 
in  a  republican  club  as  "  citizen  Tipu."  The  islands  of  France,  now 
Mauritius,  and  of  Bourbon,  now  Reunion,  afforded  a  convenient 
halfway  rendezvous  for  French  intrigue  and  for  the  assembling  of 
a  hostile  expedition.  Throughout  the  eighteenth  century  these 
islands  were  the  real  basis  for  all  French  activity  in  India.  Mauri- 
tius has  been  in  English  possession  since  1810,  but  Reunion  is  still 
French.  It  may  be  noted  further  that,  as  the  Dutch  were  the  allies 
of  the  French,  their  colonies  were  liable  to  seizure  by  the  English 
at  this  time.  In  1795  they  annexed  Ceylon  to  the  Madras  presi- 
dency, but  a  few  years  later  it  was  made  a  crown  colony  and  its 
cession  confirmed  by  the  Treaty  of  Amiens.  The  Dutch  colony  at 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  seized  in  1795,  restored  by  the  Treaty 
of  Amiens,  again  seized  in  1806,  and  ceded  to  England  by  treaty  in 
1 814.  These  conquests  greatly  increased  England's  security  in 
India  by  removing  unfriendly  powers  from  important  positions  on 
the  route  to  India  and  from  places  that  formed  a  satisfactory  basis 
for  attacks  upon  India.  Above  all,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  then 
in  Egypt,  dreaming  of  the  Indian  conquests  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
and  no  man  knew  in  what  direction  he  might  turn  his  hitherto 
unconquered  legions. 

In  February,  1801,  Wellesley  dispatched  an  expedition  under 
General  Baird  to  assist  in  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from  Egypt, 
but  it  arrived  too  late  to  be  of  much  service.  At  about  the  same 
time  the  mad  Tsar  Paul  was  actually  planning,  with  the  connivance 


198  INDIA 

1801-1802 

of  Bonaparte,  an  overland  invasion  of  India,  but  his  assassination 
promptly  put  an  end  to  this  wild  scheme. 

Wellesley  conceived  the  scheme  of  crushing  forever  the  French 
hopes  in  Asia,  by  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  a  great  Indian 
confederacy.  In  Lower  Bengal,  the  sword  of  Clive  and  the  policy 
of  Warren  Hastings  had  made  the  English  paramount.  Before  the 
end  of  the  century  their  power  was  consolidated  from  the  seaboard 
to  Benares,  high  up  the  Gangetic  valley.  Beyond  their  frontier  the 
nawab  wazir  of  Oudh  had  agreed  to  pay  a  subsidy  for  the  aid  of 
British  troops.  This  sum  in  1797  amounted  to  $3,800,000  a  year; 
and  the  nawab,  being  always  in  arrears,  entered  into  negotiations 
for  a  cession  of  territory  in  lieu  of  a  cash  payment.  In  1801  the 
Treaty  of  Lucknow  made  over  to  the  British  the  Doab,  or  fertile 
tract  between  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna,  together  with  Rohilkhand. 
The  Treaty  of  Lucknow  with  Oudh  was  a  reversal  of  Hastings's 
policy  of  defense  for  Bengal.  Hastings  had  depended  on  Oudh  as 
an  ally  to  protect  Bengal  from  attacks.  Wellesley  secured  the 
cession  by  Oudh  of  its  belt  of  exterior  territory,  whose  revenues 
were  to  be  applied  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Anglo-Indian  army, 
while  Wellesley  guaranteed  the  ruler  of  Oudh  the  secure  possession 
of  the  rest  of  his  state.  This  meant  that  the  native  ruler  was  de- 
prived of  the  control  of  the  foreign  and  military  affairs  of  his  state, 
which  became  practically  an  English  protectorate.  This  treaty, 
together  with  that  with  the  nizam  in  1800  and  the  one  with  the 
Hindu  raja  of  Mysore  in  1799,  initiated  the  policy  of  subsidiary 
treaties  by  which  the  relations  of  the  English  government  with  the 
various  native  states  are  still  regulated.  By  this  system  England 
secures  external  peace  for  herself  in  India  and  internal  peace  both 
for  her  own  and  for  the  native  possessions  in  India.  This  is  the 
establishment  of  the  pax  britannica.  The  French  assistance  to  Tipu 
Sultan  in  1798  was  the  last  instance  of  active  intervention  of  anv 
foreign  power  in  India. 

In  southern  India  English  possessions  were  chiefly  confined, 
before  Lord  Wellesley,  to  the  coast  districts  of  Madras  and  Bombay. 
Wellesley  resolved  to  make  the  British  supreme  as  far  as  Delhi  in 
northern  India,  and  to  compel  the  great  powers  of  the  south  to  enter 
into  subordinate  relations  to  the  Company's  government.  The  in- 
trigues of  the  native  princes  gave  him  his  opportunity  for  carrying 
out  this  plan  without  a  breach  of  faith.  The  time  had  arrived  when 
the  English  must  either  become  supreme  in  India  or  be  driven  out  of 


BRITISH    POWER  199 

1801 

it.  The  Mogul  empire  was  completely  broken  up ;  and  the  sway  had 
to  pass  either  to  the  local  Mohammedan  governors  of  that  empire 
or  to  the  Hindu  confederacy  represented  by  the  Marathas,  or  to  the 
British.  Lord  Wellesley  determined  that  it  should  pass  to  the 
British. 

His  work  in  northern  India  was  at  first  easy.  The  Treaty  of 
Lucknow  in  1 80 1  made  the  English  territorial  rulers  as  far  as  the 
heart  of  the  present  United  Provinces  and  established  their  political 
influence  in  Oudh.  Beyond  those  limits  the  northern  branches  of 
the  Marathas  practically  held  sway,  with  the  puppet  emperor  in 
their  hands.  Lord  Wellesley  left  them  untouched  for  a  few  years, 
until  the  second  Maratha  war  ( 1802- 1804)  gave  him  an  opportunity 
for  dealing  effectively  with  their  nation  as  a  whole.  In  southern 
India  he  saw  that  the  nizam  at  Haidarabad  stood  in  need  of  his 
protection,  and  he  converted  him  into  a  useful  follower  throughout 
the  succeeding  struggle.  The  other  Mohammedan  power  of  the 
south,  Tipu  Sultan  of  Mysore,  could  not  be  so  easily  handled.  Lord 
Wellesley  resolved  to  crush  him,  and  had  ample  provocation  for  so 
doing.  The  third  power  of  southern  India — namely,  the  Maratha 
confederacy — was  so  loosely  organized  that  Lord  Wellesley  seems 
at  first  to  have  hoped  to  live  on  terms  with  it.  When  several  years 
of  fitful  alliance  had  convinced  him  that  he  had  to  choose  between 
the  supremacy  of  the  Marathas  or  of  the  British  in  southern  India, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  decide. 

Lord  Wellesley  first  addressed  himself  to  the  weakest  of  the 
three  southern  powers,  the  nizam  of  Haidarabad.  Here  he  won  a 
diplomatic  success,  which  turned  a  possible  rival  into  a  subservient 
ally.  The  French-trained  battalions  at  Haidarabad  were  disbanded, 
and  the  nizam  bound  himself  by  treaty  not  to  take  any  European 
into  his  service  without  the  consent  of  the  English  government,  a 
clause  since  inserted  in  every  engagement  entered  into  with  native 
powers. 

Wellesley  next  turned  the  whole  weight  of  his  resources  against 
Tipu,  whom  Cornwallis  had  defeated  but  not  subdued.  Tipu's 
intrigues  with  the  French  were  laid  bare,  and  he  was  given  an 
opportunity  of  adhering  to  the  new  subsidiary  system.  On  his 
refusal,  war  was  declared,  and  Wellesley  came  down  in  viceregal 
state  to  Madras  to  organize  the  expedition  in  person,  and  to  watch 
over  the  course  of  events.  One  English  army  marched  into  Mysore 
from    Madras,    accompanied    by    a    contingent    from    the    nizam. 


200  INDIA 

1799-1802 

Another  advanced  from  the  western  coast.  Tipu,  after  a  feeble 
resistance  in  the  field,  retired  into  Seringapatam,  his  capital,  and, 
when  it  was  stormed  in  1799,  died  fighting  bravely  in  the  breach. 
Since  the  battle  of  Plassey,  no  event  so  greatly  impressed  the  natives 
as  the  capture  of  Seringapatam,  which  won  for  General  George 
Harris  an  eventual  peerage,  and  for  Wellesley  an  Irish  marquisate. 
In  dealing  with  the  territories  of  Tipu,  Wellesley  acted  with  modera- 
tion. The  central  portion,  forming  the  old  state  of  Mysore,  was 
restored  to  an  infant  representative  of  the  Hindu  rajas,  whom 
Haidar  AH  had  dethroned;  the  rest  of  Tipu's  dominion  was  par- 
titioned between  the  nizam,  the  Marathas,  and  the  English.  At 
about  the  same  time,  the  Karnatik,  or  the  part  of  southeastern  India 
ruled  by  the  nawab  of  Arcot,  and  also  the  principality  of  Tan j  ore, 
were  placed  under  direct  British  administration,  thus  constituting 
the  Madras  presidency  almost  as  it  existed  to  the  present  day. 
The  sons  of  the  slain  Tipu  were  treated  by  Lord  Wellesley  with 
paternal  tenderness.  They  received  a  magnificent  allowance,  with 
a  semi-royal  establishment,  first  at  Vellore,  and  afterward  in  Cal- 
cutta. The  last  of  them,  Prince  Ghulam  Mohammed,  who  survived 
to  1877,  was  long  a  well-known  citizen  of  Calcutta,  and  an  active 
justice  of  the  peace. 

The  Marathas  had  been  the  nominal  allies  of  the  English  in 
both  their  wars  with  Tipu;  but  they  had  not  rendered  active  as- 
sistance, nor  were  they  secured  to  the  English  side  as  the  nizam  had 
been.  The  Maratha  powers  at  this  time  were  five  in  number.  The 
recognized  head  of  the  confederacy  was  the  peshwa  of  Poona,  who 
ruled  the  hill  country  of  the  Western  Ghats,  the  cradle  of  the  Mara- 
tha race.  The  fertile  province  of  Gujarat  was  annually  harried  by 
the  horsemen  of  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda.  In  central  India  two 
military  leaders,  Sindhia  of  Gwalior  and  Holkar  of  Indore,  alter- 
nately held  the  preeminence.  Toward  the  east  the  Bhonsla  raja 
of  Nagpur  reigned  from  Berar  to  the  coast  of  Orissa.  Wellesley 
labored  to  bring  these  several  Maratha  powers  within  the  net  of  his 
subsidiary  system.  In  1802  the  necessities  of  the  peshwa,  who  had 
been  defeated  by  Holkar,  and  driven  as  a  fugitive  into  British  terri- 
tory, induced  him  to  sign  the  Treaty  of  Bassein.  By  that  he  pledged 
himself  to  the  British  to  hold  communications  with  no  other  power, 
European  or  native,  and  granted  to  the  English  districts  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  subsidiary  force.  This  greatly  extended  the  Eng- 
lish territorial  influence  in  the  Bombay  presidency,  but  it  led  to  the 


3  « 


£     3> 


BRITISH     POWER  201 

1802-1805 

second  Maratha  war,  as  neither  Sindhia  nor  the  raja  of  Nagpur 
would  tolerate  the  peshwa's  betrayal  of  the  Maratha  independence. 

The  campaigns  which  followed  are  perhaps  the  most  glorious 
in  the  history  of  the  British  arms  in  India.  The  general  plan,  and 
the  adequate  provision  of  resources,  were  due  to  the  Marquis 
Wellesley,  as  also  the  indomitable  spirit  which  refused  to  admit  of 
defeat.  The  armies  were  led  by  General  Arthur  Wellesley,  the 
younger  brother  of  the  governor-general,  and  General  Lake.  Well- 
esley operated  in  the  Deccan,  where,  in  a  few  short  months,  he 
won  the  decisive  victories  of  Assaye  and  Argaum,  and  captured 
Ahmadnagar.  Lake's  campaign  in  Hindustan  was  equally  brilliant, 
although  it  has  received  less  notice  from  historians.  He  won 
pitched  battles  at  Aligarh  and  Laswari,  and  took  the  cities  of  Delhi 
and  Agra.  He  scattered  the  French-trained  troops  of  Sindhia,  and 
at  the  same  time  stood  forward  as  the  champion  of  the  Mogul 
emperor  in  his  hereditary  capital.  Before  the  end  of  1803  both 
Sindhia  and  the  Bhonsla  raja  of  Nagpur  sued  for  peace.  Sindhia 
ceded  all  claims  to  the  territory  north  of  the  Jumna,  and  left  the 
blind  old  Emperor  Shah  Alam  once  more  under  British  protection. 
The  Bhonsla  forfeited  Orissa  to  the  English,  who  had  already 
occupied  it  with  a  flying  column  in  1803,  and  Berar  to  the  nizam, 
who  gained  fresh  territory  by  every  act  of  complaisance  to  the 
British  government.  The  freebooter  Jaswant  Rao  Holkar  alone 
remained  in  the  field,  supporting  his  troops  by  raids  through  Malwa 
and  Rajputana.  The  concluding  years  of  Wellesley 's  rule  were 
occupied  with  a  series  of  operations  against  Holkar,  which  brought 
little  credit  on  the  British  name.  The  disastrous  retreat  of  Colonel 
Monson  through  central  India  (1804)  recalled  memories  of  the 
Convention  of  Wargaum,  and  of  the  destruction  of  Colonel  Baillie's 
force  by  Haidar  Ali.  The  repulse  of  Lake  in  person  at  the  siege 
of  Bhartpur  (Bhurtpore)  is  memorable  as  an  instance  of  a  British 
army  in  India  having  to  turn  back  with  its  object  unaccomplished 
(1805).  In  spite  of  Lake's  repulse  from  Bhartpur,  the  raja  was 
sufficiently  alarmed  to  come  to  terms  with  the  English.  Bhartpur 
was  not  finally  taken  till  1827.  Lord  Combermere's  capture  of  the 
fortress  then  was  made  necessary  by  the  seizure  of  the  place  by  a 
usurper  whom  the  English  were  obliged  to  suppress. 

In  the  internal  administration,  Wellesley  was  aided  not  only 
by  successful  military  leaders,  such  as  his  brother  and  Lord  Lake, 
but  also  by  able  and  efficient  subordinates  in  the  important  civil 


202  INDIA 

1805 

posts,  and  by  a  group  of  brilliant  secretaries.  Wellesley's  brother 
Henry,  later  Baron  Cowley  (1773-1847),  was  lieutenant  governor 
of  the  Oudh  cessions;  Barry  Close  (knighted  1812,  died  1813)  was 
resident  in  Mysore  and  later  at  Poona;  and  James  Achilles  Kirk- 
patrick  was  resident  at  Haidarabad.  His  foreign  secretary  was 
Neil  Benjamin  Edmonstone  (1765-1841);  his  military  secretary, 
William  Kirkpatrick  (1754-1812);  and  another  secretary  was 
Henry  St.  George  Tucker  (1771-1851),  the  future  chairman  of  the 
court  of  directors. 

Wellesley's  administration  is  marked  by  the  inauguration  of 
new  policies,  not  only  in  foreign  affairs,  but  also  in  the  domestic 
administration.  The  need  of  better  training  for  the  civil  service, 
and  the  desirability  of  exercising  some  oversight  of  the  recruits 
for  the  service,  who  were  generally  in  their  teens  when  they  reached 
India,  led  Wellesley  to  establish  the  College  of  Fort  William,  at 
the  head  of  which  he  placed  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England. 
William  Carey,  the  famous  missionary,  was  the  professor  of  San- 
skrit. The  college  was  opened  without  the  permission  of  the  court 
of  directors  in  1800,  and  by  their  order  was  practically  abolished 
soon  after.  It  existed  in  a  restricted  form  till  1854,  for  instruction 
in  native  languages.  Metcalfe  was  the  first  matriculate  in  the  col- 
lege and  several  other  famous  Anglo-Indians  were  students  in  it.  To 
effect  the  training  of  the  new  civil  servants,  the  court  of  directors 
maintained  the  East  India  College  at  Haileybury,  near  London, 
from  1806  to  1857,  and  no  appointee  was  sent  to  India  until  18 
years  of  age.  A  military  school  was  also  maintained  at  Addiscombe 
in  Surrey  from  1809  to  1861,  where  cadets  for  all  branches  of  the 
Company's  army,  except  the  cavalry,  received  a  preliminary  training. 

Wellesley,  who  understood  that  the  neglect  of  Christianity  was 
responsible  for  much  of  the  corruption  of  the  character  of  the  Com- 
pany's servants,  was  the  first  governor-general  to  pay  distinct  at- 
tention to  Christianity  in  India.  He  caused  a  public  celebration 
of  the  Te  Deum  at  the  close  of  the  Mysore  war,  and  he  used  his 
influence  to  secure  the  appointment  of  a  bishop  for  India.  He  also 
made  some  beginning  at  the  humanitarian  reforms  which  Bentinck 
afterward  accomplished. 

Lord  Wellesley,  during  his  six  years  of  office,  carried  out  almost 
every  part  of  his  territorial  scheme.  The  policy  of  Wellesley  had 
resulted  in  giving  the  English  the  direct  and  complete  control  of  the 
whole  eastern  coast  of  India  and  of  the  southwestern  coast  so  that 


BRITISH     POWER  203 

1805 

it  was  impossible  for  a  foreign  foe  to  repeat  easily  the  attacks  of 
Suffren,  for  there  would  be  no  naval  base  readily  available. 

In  northern  India,  Lord  Lake's  campaigns  brought  the  North- 
western Provinces.  The  official  use  of  the  title  Northwestern  Prov- 
inces began  in  1835,  and  in  1902  they  were  joined  with  Oudh  in  the 
United  Provinces  of  Agra  and  Oudh,  the  ancient  Madhyadesa  under 
British  rule,  together  with  the  custody  of  the  puppet  emperor.  The 
new  districts  were  amalgamated  with  those  previously  acquired  from 
the  nawab  wazir  of  Oudh  into  the  Ceded  and  Conquered  Provinces. 
This  arrangement  of  northern  India  remained  till  the  Sikh  wars  of 
1845  and  1849  £ave  tne  English  the  Punjab.  In  southeastern  India 
we  have  seen  that  Lord  Wellesley's  conquests  constituted  the  Madras 
presidency  almost  as  it  exists  at  the  present  date.  In  southwestern 
India  the  peshwa  was  reduced  to  a  vassal  of  the  Company,  but  the 
territories  now  under  the  governor  of  Bombay  were  not  finally  built 
up  into  their  existing  form  until  the  last  Maratha  war  in  181 8. 


Chapter    XIV 

THE   CONSOLIDATION    OF    BRITISH    INDIA.     1805-1857 

THE  financial  strain  caused  by  these  great  operations  of 
Lord  Wellesley  had  meanwhile  exhausted  the  patience  of 
the  court  of  directors  at  home.  In  1805  Lord  Cornwallis 
was  sent  out  as  governor-general  a  second  time,  with  instructions 
to  bring  about  peace  at  any  price,  while  Holkar  was  still  unsub- 
dued, and  with  Sindhia  threatening  a  fresh  war.  Cornwallis  was 
now  an  old  man,  and  broken  in  health.  Traveling  up  to  the  north- 
west during  the  rainy  season,  he  sank  and  died  at  Ghazipur,  before 
he  had  been  ten  weeks  in  the  country. 

His  immediate  successor  was  Sir  George  Barlow.  George 
Hilaro  Barlow  was  born  in  1762  and  appointed  to  the  Bengal  civil 
service  in  1778.  As  chief  secretary  to  government  and  later  as 
member  of  the  governor-general's  council,  he  was  the  intimate 
adviser  of  Shore  and  Wellesley.  He  was  created  a  baronet  in  1803. 
After  his  service  as  acting  governor-general  from  1805  to  1807 
he  was  governor  of  Madras  from  1807  to  181 2,  and  died  in  1847. 
As  a  locum  tenens  he  had  no  alternative  but  to  carry  out  the 
commands  of  his  employers.  Under  these  orders  he  curtailed  the 
area  of  British  territory,  and,  in  violation  of  engagements,  aban- 
doned the  Rajput  chiefs  to  the  cruel  mercies  of  Holkar  and  Sindhia. 
During  his  administration,  also,  occurred  the  mutiny  of  the  Madras 
sepoys  at  Vellore  in  1806,  which,  although  promptly  suppressed,  sent 
a  shock  of  insecurity  through  the  empire.  The  mutiny  at  Vellore  was 
due  to  an  order  of  Sir  John  Cradock,  afterward  Lord  Howden,  the 
commander-in-chief  in  Madras,  regulating  the  style  of  turban 
worn  by  the  sepoys,  and  to  another  order  forbidding  the  wearing 
of  caste  marks  when  in  uniform.  The  mutiny,  which  broke  out  on 
July  10,  1806,  was  suppressed  by  Colonel  Gillespie.  The  objection- 
able orders  were  withdrawn  and  the  family  of  Tipu  Sultan  was 
removed  from  Vellore  to  Calcutta.  Lord  William  Bentinck,  then 
governor  of  Madras,  was  summarily  recalled.    The  feebly  econom- 

204 


CONSOLIDATION  205 

1806-1808 

ical  policy  of  this  interregnum  proved  most  disastrous,  but  fortu- 
nately the  rule  soon  passed  into  firmer  hands. 

Gilbert  Elliot,  created  Baron  Minto  of  Minto  in  1798  and 
Earl  of  Minto  in  18 13,  was  governor-general  from  1807  to  181 3, 
and  he  consolidated  the  conquests  which  Wellesley  had  acquired. 
Lord  Minto  annexed  Amboyna  in  1809  and  the  Molucca  group  in 
1 810.  His  only  military  exploits  were  the  occupation  of  the  Island 
of  Mauritius,  and  the  conquest  of  Java  by  an  expedition  which  he 
accompanied  in  person.  Java  was  administered  for  the  Company 
by  Thomas  Stamford  Raffles  (1781-1826,  knighted  1817)  until  its 
return  to  the  Dutch  in  18 16.  Sumatra  remained  in  English  con- 
trol till  1824  under  the  administration  of  Raffles,  who  in  18 19 
founded  the  English  power  at  Singapore.  The  condition  of  central 
India  continued  to  be  disturbed,  but  Lord  Minto  succeeded  in  pre- 
venting any  violent  outbreaks  without  himself  having  recourse  to 
the  sword.  The  Company  had  ordered  him  to  follow  a  policy  of 
non-intervention,  and  he  managed  to  obey  this  instruction  without 
injuring  the  prestige  of  the  British  name. 

Under  his  auspices  the  Indian  government  opened  relations 
with  a  new  set  of  foreign  powers,  by  sending  embassies  to  the 
Punjab,  to  Afghanistan,  and  to  Persia.  Napoleon  signed  a  treaty 
of  alliance  with  Persia  in  1807  and  had  an  agent,  Gardane,  resident 
at  Teheran  from  1807  to  1809.  This  action  led  the  English  gov- 
ernment to  turn  its  attention  to  the  powers  on  India's  northwest 
frontier.  The  ambassadors  had  been  trained  in  the  school  of 
Wellesley,  and  formed  perhaps  the  most  illustrious  trio  of  "  polit- 
icals "  whom  the  Indian  services  have  produced.  Charles  Theophilus 
Metcalfe,  who  went  as  envoy  to  the  Sikh  court  of  Ran  jit  Singh 
at  Lahore,  was  born  in  Calcutta  on  January  30,  1785,  and  entered 
the  Bengal  service  in  1801.  He  was  resident  at  Delhi  from  181 1 
to  1819,  and  at  Haidarabad  from  1820  to  1825.  In  1827  he 
became  a  member  of  the  governor-general's  council,  and  after  his 
acting  governor-generalship  from  1835  to  1836  he  was  lieutenant- 
governor  of  the  Northwestern  Provinces  from  1836  to  1838.  He 
served  as  governor  of  Jamaica  from  1839  to  1842,  and  governor- 
general  of  Canada  from  1843  to  I845-  He  succeeded  his  father 
as  baronet  in  1822  and  was  created  Baron  Metcalfe  in  1845.  He 
died  in  England  September  5,  1846.  Mountstuart  Elphinstone  met 
the  shah  of  Afghanistan  at  Peshawar.  Elphinstone  was  born  in 
Scotland  on  October  6,  1779,  and  entered  the  Bengal  civil  service 


206  INDIA 

1808-1814 

in  1796.  In  addition  to  his  embassy  to  Shah  Shuja  at  Kabul  in 
1808,  his  most  important  services  were  as  resident  at  Poona  from 
1810  to  1816,  and  governor  of  Bombay  from  1819  to  1827,  where 
he  established  a  legal  code  and  a  system  of  education.  After  his 
retirement  he  wrote  his  "  History  of  India."  He  died  on  Novem- 
ber 20,  1859.  The  envoy  to  Persia  was  John  Malcolm.  He  was 
born  in  Scotland  on  May  2,  1769,  and  entered  the  Indian  army  in 
1782.  He  acquired  a  knowledge  of  Persian,  which  led  to  his  later 
promotions.  He  served  as  private  secretary  to  the  commander-in- 
chief  and  later  to  the  governor-general.  His  missions  at  Teheran 
were  in  1 799-1 801,  1808- 1809,  and  18 10.  He  was  made  a  K.  C.  B. 
in  181 5,  and  from  1827  to  1830  he  was  governor  of  Bombay. 
He  wrote  a  "  History  of  Persia/'  a  "  Political  History  of  India," 
a  "  Life  of  Clive,"  and  other  works.  He  died  on  May  30,  1833,  in 
London.  It  cannot  be  said  that  these  missions  were  fruitful  of 
permanent  results;  but  they  introduced  the  English  to  a  new  set 
of  diplomatic  relations,  and  widened  the  sphere  of  their  influence. 
In  18 1 3  the  East  India  Company's  charter  was  renewed  for  twenty 
years,  but  its  monopoly  as  a  trading  company  with  India  was 
abolished.  This  act  also  directed  the  Company  to  allow  mission- 
aries full  opportunity  for  work  and  authorized  the  establishment 
of  the  bishopric  of  Calcutta.  The  first  bishop  was  Thomas  Fan- 
shaw  Middleton  (1769-1822),  who  was  succeeded  by  Reginald 
Heber  (1783- 1826). 

The  successor  of  Lord  Minto  was  the  earl  of  Moira,  better 
known  by  his  later  title  as  the  marquis  of  Hastings.  Francis  Raw- 
don-Hastings  was  born  on  December  9,  1754,  and  entered  the  army 
in  1773.  He  was  present  at  Bunker  Hill  and  took  part  in  the 
various  campaigns  of  the  American  Revolution,  ending  with  the 
Carolina  campaign  under  Cornwallis.  He  had  been  known  by 
the  courtesy  title  of  Lord  Rawdon,  but  in  1783  was  created  Baron 
Rawdon,  and  succeeded  as  earl  of  Moira  in  the  Irish  peerage  in 
1793.  He  was  an  intimate  friend  and  political  supporter  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  later  George  IV.  He  was  governor-general  of 
India  from  1813  to  1823  and  was  created  marquis  of  Hastings  in 
1 81 7.  From  1824  to  1826  he  was  governor  of  Malta,  and  died  at 
sea  near  Naples  on  November  28,  1826. 

The  marquis  of  Hastings  completed  Lord  Wellesley's  con- 
quests in  central  India,  and  left  the  Bombay  presidency  almost  as  it 
stands  at  present.    His  long  rule  of  nine  years,  from  1814  to  1823, 


CONSOLIDATION  207 

1814-1815 

was  marked  by  two  wars  of  the  first  magnitude,  namely  the  cam- 
paigns against  the  Gurkhas  of  Nepal  and  the  last  Maratha  struggle. 

The  Gurkhas,  the  present  ruling  race  in  Nepal,  are  Hindu  im- 
migrants, who  claim  a  Rajput  origin.  The  indigenous  inhabitants, 
called  Newars,  belong  to  the  Indo-Tibetan  stock,  and  profess  Bud- 
dhism. The  sovereignty  of  the  Gurkhas  over  Nepal  dates  only  from 
1767,  in  which  year  they  overran  the  valley  of  Khatmandu,  and 
gradually  extended  their  power  over  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Nepal. 
Organized  upon  a  feudal  basis,  they  soon  became  a  terror  to  their 
neighbors,  marching  east  into  Sikkim,  west  into  Kumaun,  and  south 
into  the  Gangetic  plains.  In  the  last  quarter  their  victims  were 
British  subjects,  and  it  became  necessary  to  check  their  advance. 
Sir  George  Barlow  and  Lord  Minto  had  remonstrated  in  vain,  and 
nothing  was  left  to  Lord  Moira  but  to  take  up  arms.  The  cam- 
paign of  1814  was  at  first  unsuccessful.  After  overcoming  the 
natural  difficulties  of  a  malarious  climate  and  precipitous  hills, 
the  English  troops  were  on  several  occasions  fairly  worsted  by  the 
impetuous  bravery  of  the  little  Gurkhas,  whose  heavy  knives  or 
kukris  dealt  terrible  execution.  In  the  cold  weather  of  1814  Gen- 
eral David  Ochterlony,  who  entered  the  Bengal  army  in  1777,  ad- 
vanced by  way  of  the  Sutlej  and  stormed  one  by  one  the  hill  forts 
which  still  stud  the  Himalayan  states,  now  under  the  Punjab  gov- 
ernment, and  compelled  the  Nepal  darbar  to  sue  for  peace.  In  the 
following  year,  181 5,  the  same  general  made  a  brilliant  march  from 
Patna  into  the  lofty  valley  of  Khatmandu,  and  finally  dictated  the 
terms  which  had  before  been  rejected,  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
capital.  By  the  Treaty  of  Segauli,  which  defines  the  English  rela- 
tions with  Nepal  to  the  present  day,  the  Gurkhas  withdrew  on  the 
southeast  from  Sikkim ;  and  on  the  southwest,  from  their  advanced 
posts  in  the  outer  ranges  of  the  Himalayas,  which  have  supplied 
to  the  English  the  health-giving  stations  of  Naini  Tal,  Mussooree, 
and  Simla.  The  first  house  at  Simla  was  erected  in  1819  by 
Lieutenant  Ross,  assistant  political  agent  for  the  Hill  states.  In 
1827  for  the  first  time  the  governor-general,  Lord  Amherst,  spent 
some  weeks  of  the  summer  at  Simla,  and  the  practice  has  been  fol- 
lowed with  considerable  regularity  since  then.  Since  1864  Simla  has 
been  regularly  regarded  as  the  summer  capital  of  India  and  it  is 
the  permanent  headquarters  of  the  army. 

Meanwhile  the  condition  of  central  India  was  every  year  be- 
coming more  unsatisfactory.    The  great  Maratha  chiefs  had  learned 


208  INDIA 

1815-1817 

to  live  as  princes,  rather  than  as  predatory  leaders,  but  their  old 
example  of  lawlessness  was  being  followed  by  a  new  set  of  free- 
booters, known  as  the  Pindaris.  As  opposed  to  the  Marathas,  who 
were  at  least  a  Hindu  nationality  bound  by  traditions  of  confeder- 
ate government,  the  Pindaris  were  merely  plundering  bands,  cor- 
responding to  the  free  companies  of  mediaeval  Europe.  Of  no 
common  race,  and  without  any  common  religion,  they  welcomed 
to  their  ranks  the  outlaws  and  broken  tribes  of  all  India — Afghans, 
Marathas,  or  Jats.  They  represented  the  debris  of  the  Mogul 
empire,  the  broken  men  who  had  not  been  incorporated  by  the 
Mohammedan  or  the  Hindu  powers  which  sprang  out  of  its  ruins. 
For  a  time,  indeed,  it  seemed  as  if  the  inheritance  of  the  Mogul 
might  pass  to  these  armies  of  banditti.  In  Bengal,  similar  hordes 
had  formed  themselves  out  of  the  disbanded  Mohammedan  troops 
and  the  Hindu  predatory  castes,  but  they  had  been  dispersed  under 
the  vigorous  rule  of  Warren  Hastings.  In  central  India  the  evil 
lasted  longer,  attained  a  great  scale,  and  was  only  stamped  out  by 
a  regular  war. 

The  Pindari  headquarters  were  in  Malwa,  but  their  depreda- 
tions were  not  confined  to  central  India.  In  bands,  sometimes  of  a 
few  hundreds,  sometimes  of  many  thousands,  they  rode  out  on 
their  forays  as  far  as  the  opposite  coasts  of  Madras  and  of  Bombay. 
The  most  powerful  of  the  Pindari  captains,  Amir  Khan,  had  an 
organized  army  of  many  regiments,  and  several  batteries  of  cannon. 
Two  other  leaders,  known  as  Chitu  and  Karim,  at  one  time  paid 
a  ransom  to  Sindhia  of  100,000/.  ($500,000).  To  suppress  the  Pin- 
dari hordes,  who  were  supported  by  the  sympathy,  more  or  less 
open,  of  all  the  Maratha  chiefs,  Lord  Hastings  in  1817  collected 
the  strongest  British  army  which  had  been  seen  in  India,  numbering 
120,000  men.  One-half  operated  from  the  north,  the  other  half 
from  the  south.  Sindhia  was  overawed,  and  remained  quiet.  Amir 
Khan  disbanded  his  army,  on  condition  of  being  guaranteed  the 
possession  of  what  is  now  the  principality  of  Tonk.  The  remain- 
ing bodies  of  Pindaris  were  attacked  in  their  homes,  surrounded, 
and  cut  to  pieces.  Karim  threw  himself  upon  the  mercy  of  the 
conquerors.    Chitu  fled  to  the  jungles,  and  was  killed  by  a  tiger. 

In  the  same  year  (1817),  and  almost  in  the  same  month  (No- 
vember), as  that  in  which  the  Pindaris  were  crushed,  the  three 
great  Maratha  powers  at  Poona,  Nagpur,  and  Indore  rose  sepa- 
rately against  the  British.     The  peshwa  Baji  Rao  had  long  been 


CONSOLIDATION  209 

1817-1823 

chafing  under  the  terms  imposed  by  the  Treaty  of  Bassein  in  1802. 
A  new  Treaty  of  Poona,  in  June,  181 7,  now  freed  the  Gaekwar 
from  his  control,  ceded  fresh  districts  to  the  British  for  the  pay  of 
the  subsidiary  force,  and  submitted  all  future  disputes  to  the  deci- 
sion of  the  English  government.  The  Hon.  Mountstuart  Elphin- 
stone,  then  the  resident  at  his  court,  foresaw  a  storm,  and  withdrew 
to  Kirki,  whither  he  had  ordered  up  a  European  regiment.  The 
residency  was  burned  down  by  the  Marathas,  and  the  peshwa  at- 
tacked Kirki  with  his  whole  army.  The  attack  was  bravely  repulsed, 
and  the  peshwa  immediately  fled  from  his  capital.  Almost  the 
same  plot  was  enacted  at  Nagpur,  where  the  honor  of  the  British 
name  was  saved  by  the  sepoys,  who  defended  the  hill  of  Sitabaldi 
against  enormous  odds.  The  Maratha  army  of  Holkar  was  de- 
feated in  the  following  month  at  the  pitched  battle  of  Mehidpur. 

All  open  resistance  was  now  at  an  end.  Nothing  remained 
but  to  follow  up  the  fugitives,  and  to  impose  conditions  for  a 
general  pacification.  In  both  these  duties  Sir  John  Malcolm  played 
a  prominent  part.  The  dominions  of  the  peshwa  were  annexed  to 
the  Bombay  presidency,  and  the  nucleus  of  the  present  Central 
Provinces  was  formed  out  of  the  territory  rescued  from  the  Pin- 
daris.  The  peshwa  himself  surrendered,  and  was  permitted  to 
reside  at  Bithur,  near  Cawnpur,  on  a  pension  of  80,000/.  ($400,000) 
a  year.  His  adopted  son  was  the  infamous  Nana  Sahib  of  the 
Mutiny  of  1857.  To  fill  the  peshwa's  place  as  the  traditional  head 
of  the  Maratha  confederacy,  the  lineal  descendant  of  Sivaji  was 
brought  forth  from  obscurity,  and  placed  upon  the  throne  of  Satara. 
An  infant  was  recognized  as  the  heir  of  Holkar;  and  a  second 
infant  was  proclaimed  raja  of  Nagpur  under  British  guardianship. 
At  the  same  time  the  states  of  Rajputana  accepted  the  position  of 
feudatories  to  the, paramount  British  power.  The  map  of  India, 
as  thus  drawn  by  Lord  Hastings,  remained  substantially  unchanged 
until  the  time  of  Lord  Dalhousie.  But  the  proudest  boast  of  Lord 
Hastings  and  Sir  John  Malcolm  was,  not  that  they  had  advanced 
the  British  frontier,  but  that  they  had  conferred  the  blessings  of 
peace  and  good  government  upon  millions  who  had  groaned  under 
the  extortions  of  the  Marathas  and  Pindaris. 

The  marquis  of  Hastings  was  succeeded  by  Lord  Amherst, 
after  the  interval  of  a  few  months,  during  which  John  Adams, 
the  senior  member  of  the  governor-general's  council,  acted  as  gov- 
ernor-general.    William  Pitt  Amherst  was  born  in  January,  1773, 


210  INDIA 

1823-1824 

and  succeeded  as  Baron  Amherst  on  the  death  of  his  uncle,  who  had 
been  the  British  commander  in  America  from  1758  to  1763.  He 
went  as  envoy  to  Peking  in  18 16.  He  served  as  governor-general 
of  India  from  1823  to  1828  and  was  created  Earl  Amherst  in  1826. 
He  died  in  1857.  The  Maratha  war  in  the  peninsula  of  India  was 
hardly  completed  when  the  English  armies  had  to  face  new  enemies 
beyond  the  sea.  Lord  Amherst's  administration  is  known  in  his- 
tory by  two  prominent  events — the  first  Burmese  war  and  the  cap- 
ture of  Bhartpur. 

For  years  the  eastern  frontier  of  Bengal  had  been  disturbed 
by  Burmese  raids.  The  peninsula  of  Farther  India  was  known 
to  the  Greeks  in  ancient  times  as  the  Golden  Chersonese.  Burmese 
traditions  state  that  a  pious  Indian  prince  from  Benares  founded 
a  kingdom  on  the  coast  of  Arakan  centuries  before  the  birth  of 
Christ.  They  also  assert  that  the  southern  parts  of  Burma  were 
peopled  by  settlers  from  the  coast  of  Coromandel  on  the  Madras 
side  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that 
the  Buddhist  religion,  which  is  professed  by  the  Burmese  at  the 
present  day,  came  from  India  at  a  very  early  date.  Indeed,  the 
state  establishment  of  Buddhism  in  Burma  is  said  to  have  taken 
place  in  164  a.  d.  While  a  stream  of  civilization  reached  Burma 
from  India  on  the  northwest,  the  wild  Shan  tribes  and  other  races 
of  Tibeto-Chinese  origin  poured  into  the  Irawadi  Valley  from  the 
northeast.  Waves  of  invaders  thus  passed  over  Burma  during 
many  centuries,  some  coming  from  Siam  on  the  southeast,  others 
from  the  wild  mountains  of  the  Chinese  frontier  on  the  northeast. 
These  gradually  established  themselves  into  three  separate  king- 
doms, namely,  Arakan  on  the  Burmese  coast;  Ava  in  the  upper 
Valleys  of  the  Irawadi ;  and  Pegu  in  the  delta  of  that  river.  They 
became  the  ruling  races  of  Burma,  races  of  Tibeto-Chinese  descent, 
who  professed  or  adopted  the  Buddhist  religion,  which  had  orig- 
inally come  from  India.  The  three  Burmese  kingdoms  fought 
against  each  other  with  all  the  cruelties  and  massacres  which  char- 
acterize the  Tibeto-Chinese  tribes;  but  the  learning  and  civiliza- 
tion of  Buddhism  survived  every  shock  and  flourished  around  its 
ancient  pagodas.  European  travelers  in  the  sixteenth  century  vis- 
ited Pegu  and  Tenasserim,  which  they  described  as  flourishing 
marts  of  maritime  trade.  During  the  period  of  Portuguese  pre- 
dominance in  the  East,  Arakan  became  the  asylum  for  desperate 
European  adventurers.     With  their  help,  the  Arakanese  extended 


CONSOLIDATION 


211 


1824 


their  power  inland,  occupied  Chittagong,  and,  under  the  name  of 
the  Maghs  became  the  terror  of  the  Gangetic  delta.  About  1750 
a  new  dynasty  rose  in  Burma,  founded  by  Alaungpaya,  or  Alompra, 
with  its  capital  at  Ava.  His  descendants  ruled  over  independent 
Burma  until  1885. 

The  successors  of  Alompra,  after  having  subjugated  all  Burma, 
and  overrun  Assam,   which  was  then  an  independent  kingdom, 


began  a  series  of  encroachments  upon  the  British  districts  of  Ben- 
gal. As  they  rejected  all  peaceful  proposals  with  scorn,  Lord 
Amherst  was  at  last  compelled  to  declare  war  in  1824.  One  expe- 
dition with  gunboats  proceeded  up  the  Brahmaputra  into  Assam. 
Another  marched  by  land  through  Chittagong  into  Arakan,  for 
the  Bengal  sepoys  refused  to  go  by  sea.  A  third,  and  the  strongest, 
sailed  from  Madras  direct  to  the  mouth  of  the  Irawadi.  This 
force  was  fitted  out  by  Thomas  Munro  (1761-1827,  knighted  1819), 


212  INDIA 

1824-1828 

who  was  governor  of  Madras  from  1820  to  1827.  Munro  was 
famous  for  his  earlier  administrative  services  in  the  Mysore  ceded 
districts,  where  he  developed  the  rayatwari  system  of  assessment 
and  collection  for  the  land  revenue,  which,  with  some  modifications, 
is  still  in  force  in  the  Madras  presidency.  The  war  was  protracted 
over  two  years.  After  a  loss  to  the  Anglo-Indian  army  of  about 
20,000  lives,  chiefly  from  the  pestilential  climate,  and  an  expendi- 
ture of  14,000,000/.,  the  king  of  Ava  signed,  in  1826,  the  Treaty 
of  Yandabu.  By  this  he  abandoned  all  claim  to  Assam,  and  ceded 
to  the  British  the  provinces  of  Arakan  and  Tenesserim,  already  in 
the  military  occupation  of  the  British.  He  retained  the  whole 
valley  of  the  Irawadi,  down  to  the  sea  at  Rangoon. 

A  disputed  succession  led  to  the  British  intervention  in  Bhart- 
pur,  the  great  Jat  state  of  central  India.  The  capture  of  the  city 
by  Lord  Combermere,  in  January,  1827,  wiped  out  the  repulse  which 
Lord  Lake  had  received  in  January,  1805.  Artillery  could  make 
little  impression  upon  the  massive  walls  of  mud,  but  at  last  a  breach 
was  effected  by  mining,  and  Bhartpur  was  taken  by  storm,  thus 
removing  the  popular  notion  throughout  India  that  it  was  im- 
pregnable— a  notion  which  had  threatened  to  become  a  political 
danger.  Bhartpur  received  a  new  native  sovereign  under  English 
protection  and  continues  to  be  one  of  the  native  states. 

The  acting  governor-general  after  Amherst's  departure  was 
William  Butterworth  Bayley,  who  was  born  in  1782  and  reached 
India  in  1799,  where  he  received  his  training  at  the  College  of 
Fort  William  and  under  the  eye  of  Lord  Wellesley.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  governor-general's  council  from  1825  to  1830; 
chairman  of  the  court  of  directors  from  1840  to  1854,  and  died  in 
i860.  The  next  governor-general  was  Lord  William  Bentinck, 
who  had  been  governor  of  Madras,  twenty  years  earlier,  at  the 
time  of  the  mutiny  of  Vellore.  William  Cavendish  Bentinck  was 
born  on  September  14,  1774,  and  as  second  son  of  the  duke  of 
Portland  was  known  by  the  courtesy  title  of  Lord  William  Bentinck. 
He  entered  the  army  in  1791  and  served  in  the  various  campaigns 
against  the  French  down  to  18 14.  His  seven  years'  rule,  from 
1828  to  1835,  was  not  signalized  by  any  of  those  victories  or  ex- 
tensions of  territory  by  which  chroniclers  measure  the  growth  of 
an  empire,  but,  nevertheless,  it  formed  an  epoch  in  administrative 
reform,  and  in  the  slow  process  by  which  a  subject  population  is 
won  over  to  venerate,  as  well  as  to  obey,  its  foreign  rulers.     The 


CONSOLIDATION  213 

1828-1829 

modern  history  of  the  British  in  India,  as  benevolent  administrators, 
ruling  the  country  with  an  eye  single  to  the  good  of  the  natives, 
may  almost  be  said  to  begin  with  Lord  William  Bentinck.  Accord- 
ing to  the  inscription  upon  his  statue  at  Calcutta,  from  the  pen  of 
Macaulay :  "  He  abolished  cruel  rites ;  he  effaced  humiliating  dis- 
tinctions; he  gave  liberty  to  the  expression  of  public  opinion;  his 
constant  study  was  to  elevate  the  intellectual  and  moral  character 
of  the  nations  committed  to  his  charge." 

Lord  William  Bentinck's  first  care  on  arrival  in  India  was  to 
restore  equilibrium  to  the  finances,  which  were  tottering  under  the 
burden  imposed  upon  them  by  the  Burmese  War.  This  he  effected 
by  three  series  of  measures — by  reductions  in  permanent  expendi- 
ture, amounting  to  one  and  a  half  millions  sterling  a  year;  by 
augmenting  the  revenue  from  land  which  had  unfairly  escaped 
assessment;  by  duties  on  the  opium  of  Malwa.  He  also  widened 
the  gates  by  which  educated  natives  could  enter  the  service  of  the 
Company. 

Some  of  these  reforms  were  distasteful  to  the  covenanted  serv- 
ice and  to  the  officers  of  the  army,  but  Lord  William  was  staunchly 
supported  by  the  court  of  directors  and  by  the  ministry  at  home. 
The  East  India  Company,  after  the  battle  of  Plassey  in  1757,  first  be- 
came interested  in  the  opium  culture,  and  in  1773  began  the  control 
of  the  trade  in  it  with  China.  Prior  to  1773  the  annual  export  from 
India  to  China  was  about  200  chests,  in  1776  it  was  1000  chests, 
and  4054  chests  in  1790.  The  annual  average  from  1820  to  1830 
was  16,877  chests.  Beginning  with  1796  the  Chinese  government 
imposed  severe  penalties  on  the  use  of  opium.  China  seems  regu- 
larly to  have  produced  more  opium  than  India  in  spite  of  the 
laws  against  its  use.  Troubles  growing  out  of  this  opium  trade 
with  China  led,  in  Lord  Auckland's  administration,  to  the  out- 
break of  the  First  China  War,  generally  known  as  the  Opium  War. 
Sir  Hugh  Gough,  with  an  army  sent  from  Madras,  brought  the 
war  to  a  successful  close  by  the  capture  of  Canton  and  other  forts 
and  cities.  By  the  Peace  of  Nanking  in  1842  England  received 
the  island  of  Llong  Kong  and  the  opening  of  the  first  of  the  treaty 
ports. 

Bentinck's  most  memorable  acts  are  the  abolition  of  sati 
(suttee),  or  widow-burning,  and  the  suppression  of  the  thags 
(thugs).  At  this  distance  of  time  it  is  difficult  to  realize  the  degree 
to  which  these  two  barbarous  practices  had  corrupted  the  social  sys- 


214  INDIA 

1829-1833 

tern  of  the  Hindus.  European  research  has  proved  that  the  text  in 
the  Vedas  adduced  to  authorize  the  immolation  of  Hindu  widows 
was  a  willful  mistranslation,  but  the  practice  had  been  enshrined  in 
Hindu  opinion  by  the  authority  of  centuries,  and  had  acquired  the 
sanctity  of  a  religious  rite.  The  Emperor  Akbar  tried  to  prohibit 
it,  but  failed  to  put  it  down.  The  early  English  rulers  did  not  dare 
to  violate  the  religious  traditions  of  the  people.  In  the  year  1817 
no  fewer  than  700  widows  are  said  to  have  been  burned  alive  in 
the  Bengal  presidency  alone.  To  this  day  the  holy  spots  of  Hindu 
pilgrimage  are  thickly  dotted  with  little  white  pillars,  each  com- 
memorating a  sati.  In  spite  of  strenuous  opposition,  both  from 
Europeans  and  from  natives,  Lord  William  Bentinck  carried  a 
regulation  in  council,  on  December  4,  1829,  by  which  all  who  abetted 
sati  were  declared  guilty  of  "  culpable  homicide."  The  honor  of 
suppressing  thags  must  be  shared  between  Lord  William  Ben- 
tinck and  Captain  Sleeman.  Thags  were  hereditary  assassins,  who 
made  strangling  their  profession.  They  traveled  in  gangs,  dis- 
guised as  merchants  or  pilgrims,  and  were  banded  together  by  an 
oath  based  on  the  rites  of  the  bloody  goddess  Kali.  Between  1826 
and  1835  as  many  as  1562  thags  were  apprehended  in  different 
parts  of  British  India;  and,  by  the  evidence  of  approvers,  this 
moral  plague-spot  was  gradually  stamped  out.  A  special  jail  for 
their  protection  was  established  at  Jabalpur,  since  detection  and 
proof  could  be  obtained  only  from  members  of  the  bands,  so  strin- 
gent was  their  secrecy. 

Two  other  historical  events  are  connected  with  the  administra- 
tion of  Lord  William  Bentinck.  In  1833  the  charter  of  the  East 
India  Company  was  again  renewed  for  twenty  years,  but  on  con- 
dition that  the  Company  should  abandon  its  trade  entirely,  alike 
with  India  and  China,  and  permit  Europeans  to  settle  freely  in 
India.  At  the  same  time  a  fourth  or  law  member  was  added  to 
the  governor-general's  council,  who  need  not  necessarily  be  a 
servant  of  the  Company;  and  a  commission  was  appointed  to 
revise  and  codify  the  law.  Thomas  Babington  Macaulay,  after- 
ward Baron  Macaulay,  was  the  first  legal  member  of  council,  and 
the  first  president  of  the  law  commission. 

In  1830  it  was  found  necessary  to  take  Mysore  under  British 
administration,  because  of  an  insurrection  caused  by  the  misgov- 
ernment  and  oppressive  taxation  of  the  maharaja,  who  was  de- 
posed under  clauses  of  the  treaty  of  1799.    This  arrangement  con- 


CONSOLIDATION  215 

1833-1836 

tinued  until  March,  1881,  when  Mysore  was  restored  to  native 
government,  and  the  lawful  heir  enthroned.  In  1834  the  frantic 
misrule  of  the  raja  of  Coorg  brought  on  a  short  and  sharp  war. 
The  raja  was  permitted  to  retire  to  Benares;  and  the  brave  and 
proud  inhabitants  of  his  mountainous  little  territory  decided  to 
place  themselves  under  the  sway  of  the  Company.  This  was  the 
only  annexation  effected  by  Lord  William  Bentinck,  and  it  was 
done  "  in  consideration  of  the  unanimous  wish  of  the  people."  He 
retired  in  1835. 

Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  succeeded  Lord  William  Bentinck,  being 
senior  member  of  council.  His  short  term  of  office  is  memorable 
for  the  measure  which  his  predecessor  had  initiated,  but  which  he 
carried  into  execution,  for  giving  entire  liberty  to  the  press.  Pub- 
lic opinion  in  India,  as  well  as  the  express  wish  of  the  court  of 
directors  at  home,  pointed  to  Metcalfe  as  the  fittest  person  to  carry 
out  the  policy  of  Bentinck,  not  provisionally,  but  as  governor-gen- 
eral for  a  full  term. 

Party  exigencies,  however,  led  to  the  appointment  of  Lord 
Auckland.  George  Eden  was  born  in  Kent,  England,  on  August 
25,  1784.  He  succeeded  his  father  as  Baron  Auckland  in  1814. 
He  was  president  of  the  board  of  trade  from  1830  to  1834,  and  in 
1835,  and  first  lord  of  the  admiralty  in  1834,  and  from  1846  to 
1849.  His  term  as  governor-general  was  from  1836  to  1842.  He 
was  accompanied  to  India  by  his  sister,  the  Honorable  Emily  Eden 
(1797-1869),  the  novelist,  who  described  her  experiences  in  "  Up 
the  County"  (1844),  "Portraits  of  the  People  and  Princes  of 
India"  (1866),  and  "Letters  from  India,"  edited  by  her  niece 
(1872).  From  this  date  commences  a  new  era  of  war  and  con- 
quest, which  may  be  said  to  have  lasted  for  twenty  years.  All  looked 
peaceful,  until  Lord  Auckland,  prompted  by  his  evil  genius,  at- 
tempted to  place  Shah  Shuja  upon  the  throne  of  Kabul — an  attempt 
conducted  with  gross  mismanagement,  and  ending  in  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  British  garrison  placed  in  that  city.  Lord  Auckland 
owed  much  to  his  group  of  able  secretaries,  William  Hay  Mac- 
naghten,  John  Russell  Colvin,  and  Henry  Whitelock  Torrens 
(1806-1852),  but  their  responsibility  for  the  acts  of  the  governor- 
general  is  open  to  question.  The  responsibility  seems  to  rest  chiefly 
upon  the  authorities  in  London.  Lord  Melbourne,  the  prime  min- 
ister, had  Lord  Palmerston  for  foreign  secretary  and  Sir  John 
Hobhouse  for  president  of  the  board  of  control. 


216  INDIA 

1836-1837 

Almost  for  the  first  time  since  the  days  of  the  sultans  of  Ghazni 
and  Ghor,  Afghanistan  had  obtained  a  national  king,  in  1747,  in 
Ahmad  Shah  Durani.  This  resolute  soldier  found  his  opportunity 
in  the  confusion  which  followed  the  death  of  the  Persian  conqueror, 
Nadir  Shah.  Before  his  own  decease  in  1773,  Ahmad  Shah  had 
conquered  a  wide  empire,  from  Herat  to  Peshawar,  and  from  Kash- 
mir to  Sind.  His  intervention  on  the  field  of  Panipat  ( 1761 )  turned 
back  the  tide  of  Maratha  conquest,  and  replaced  a  Mohammedan 
emperor  on  the  throne  of  Delhi,  but  Ahmad  Shah  never  cared  to 
settle  down  in  India,  and  kept  state  alternately  at  his  two  Afghan 
capitals  of  Kabul  and  Kandahar.  The  Durani  kings  were  pro- 
lific in  children,  who  fought  to  the  death  with  one  another  on  each 
succession.  At  last,  in  1826,  Dost  Mohammed,  head  of  the  power- 
ful Barakzai  family,  succeeded  in  establishing  himself  as  ruler  of 
Kabul,  with  the  title  of  amir,  while  two  fugitive  brothers  of  the 
Durani  line  were  living  under  British  protection  at  Ludhiana,  on 
the  Punjab  frontier. 

The  attention  of  the  English  government  had  been  directed  to 
Afghan  affairs  ever  since  the  time  of  Lord  Wellesley,  who  feared 
that  Zeman  Shah,  then  holding  his  court  at  Lahore  (1800),  might 
follow  in  the  path  of  Ahmad  Shah,  and  overrun  Hindustan. 
The  growth  of  the  powerful  Sikh  kingdom  of  Ranjit  Singh,  how- 
ever, gradually  dispelled  such  alarms  for  the  future.  Subsequently, 
in  1809,  while  a  French  invasion  of  India  was  still  a  possibility  to 
be  guarded  against,  Mountstuart  Elphinstone  was  sent  by  Lord 
Minto  on  a  mission  to  Shah  Shuja,  brother  of  Zeman  Shah,  to  form 
a  defensive  alliance.  Before  the  year  expired  Shah  Shuja  had 
been  driven  into  exile,  and  a  third  brother,  Mahmud  Shah,  was  on 
the  throne. 

In  1837,  when  the  curtain  rises  upon  the  drama  of  English 
interference  in  Afghanistan,  the  usurper  Dost  Mohammed  Barakzai 
was  firmly  established  at  Kabul.  His  great  ambition  was  to  re- 
cover Peshawar  from  the  Sikhs.  When,  therefore,  Captain  Alex- 
ander Burnes  arrived  on  a  mission  from  Lord  Auckland,  with  the 
ostensible  object  of  opening  trade,  the  Dost  was  willing  to  promise 
everything,  if  only  he  could  get  Peshawar.  Lord  Auckland  had 
another  and  more  important  object  in  view.  At  this  time  the 
Russians  were  advancing  rapidly  in  central  Asia,  and  a  Persian 
army,  not  without  Russian  support,  was  besieging  Herat,  the  tra- 
ditional bulwark  of  Afghanistan  on  the  west. 


CONSOLIDATION  217 

1837-1841 

One  of  the  principal  observers  of  this  Russian  advance  was 
Henry  Creswicke  Rawlinson  (1810-1895),  who  was  employed  in 
Persia  from  1833  to  1839  m  reorganizing  the  Persian  army.  He 
made  a  memorable  ride  of  750  miles  in  150  consecutive  hours  to 
warn  the  British  minister  at  Teheran  of  the  presence  of  a  Russian 
agent  at  Herat.  Rawlinson  served  under  Macnaghten  and  others 
throughout  the  Afghan  troubles.  Later  as  consul  at  Bagdad  he 
was  the  constant  correspondent  of  Sir  Stratford  Canning,  the  Eng- 
lish minister  at  Constantinople.  He  was  knighted  in  1856.  He 
was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  persistent  of  English  Russophobes, 
and  his  writings  are  valuable  expositions  of  that  attitude. 

The  defense  of  Herat  was  conducted  by  an  Anglo-Indian 
official,  Eldred  Pottinger  (1811-1843),  who  was  traveling  in  Af- 
ghanistan in  disguise  when  the  siege  began  in  1837.  A  Russian 
envoy  was  at  Kabul  at  the  same  time  as  Burnes.  The  latter  was 
unable  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  Dost  Mohammed  in  the  mat- 
ter of  Peshawar,  and  returned  to  India  unsuccessful.  Lord  Auck- 
land forthwith  resolved  upon  the  hazardous  plan  of  placing  a  more 
subservient  ruler  upon  the  throne  of  Kabul.  Shah  Shuja,  one  of 
the  two  royal  Afghan  exiles  at  Ludhiana,  was  selected  for  the 
purpose.  At  this  time  both  the  Punjab  and  Sind  were  independent 
kingdoms;  and  both  lay  between  British  India  and  Afghanistan. 
Sind  was  the  less  powerful  of  the  two,  and  accordingly  a  British 
army,  escorting  Shah  Shuja,  made  its  way  through  Sind  into 
southern  Afghanistan  by  way  of  the  Bolan  Pass.  Kandahar  sur- 
rendered, Ghazni  was  taken  by  storm,  Dost  Mohammed  fled  across 
the  Hindu  Kush,  and  Shah  Shuja  was  triumphantly  led  into  the 
Bala  Hissar  (the  citadel  and  royal  residence)  at  Kabul  in  August, 
1839.  After  one  more  brave  struggle,  Dost  Mohammed  sur- 
rendered, and  was  sent  to  Calcutta  as  a  state  prisoner.  The  gov- 
ernor-general, Baron  Auckland,  was  created  earl  of  Auckland  in 

1839. 

Although  the  English  could  enthrone  Shah  Shuja,  they  could 
not  win  for  him  the  hearts  of  the  Afghans.  To  that  nation  he 
seemed  a  degenerate  exile  thrust  back  upon  them  by  foreign  arms. 
During  two  years  Afghanistan  remained  in  the  military  occupation 
of  the  British.  The  catastrophe  occurred  in  November,  1841, 
when  the  English  political  agent,  Sir  Alexander  Burnes,  was  as- 
sassinated in  the  city  of  Kabul. 

The  troops  in  the  cantonments  were  under  the  command  of 


218  INDIA 

1841-1842 

William  George  Keith  Elphinstone  (not  to  be  confused  with  Mount- 
stuart  Elphinstone).  The  general  was  born  in  1782  and  en- 
tered the  army  in  1804.  He  became  a  major-general  in  1837  and 
went  to  India  in  1839.  In  1841  he  was  appointed  to  command  at 
Kabul.  Sir  William  Hay  Macnaghten  was  the  political  officer. 
He  was  born  in  1793  and  entered  the  East  India  Company's  service 
in  1809.  He  became  secretary  to  Bentinck  in  1830  and  was  con- 
nected with  the  secretariat  until  his  appointment  as  minister  at 
Kabul  on  October  1,  1838.  He  was  created  a  baronet  in  1840. 
General  Elphinstone,  an  old  man,  proved  unequal  to  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  position.  Macnaghten  was  treacherously  murdered, 
December  23,  1841,  at  an  interview  with  the  Afghan  chief,  Akbar 
Khan,  eldest  son  of  Dost  Mohammed.  After  lingering  in  its 
cantonments  for  two  months,  the  British  army  set  off  in  the  depth 
of  winter,  under  a  fallacious  guarantee  from  the  Afghan  leaders, 
to  find  its  way  back  to  India  through  the  passes.  When  it  started 
it  numbered  4000  fighting  men,  with  12,000  camp-followers.  A 
single  European  survivor,  Dr.  William  Brydon  (1811-1873), 
reached  the  friendly  walls  of  Jalalabad,  where  General  Robert  Henry 
Sale  was  gallantly  holding  out.  The  rest  perished  in  the  snowy 
defiles  of  Khurd-Kabul  and  Jagdalak,  from  the  knives  and  match- 
locks of  the  Afghans,  or  from  the  effects  of  cold.  A  few  prisoners, 
chiefly  women,  children,  and  officers,  were  considerately  treated  by 
the  orders  of  Akbar  Khan. 

The  first  Afghan  enterprise,  begun  in  a  spirit  of  aggression, 
and  conducted  amid  dissensions  and  mismanagement,  had  ended 
in  the  disgrace  of  the  British  arms.  The  real  loss,  which  amounted 
only  to  a  single  garrison,  was  magnified  by  the  horrors  of  the 
winter  march,  and  by  the  completeness  of  the  annihilation.  Within 
a  month  after  the  news  reached  Calcutta,  Lord  Auckland  had  been 
superseded  by  Lord  Ellenborough.  Edward  Law  was  born  in 
1790  and  succeeded  as  Baron  Ellenborough  in  1818.  He  was  lord 
privy  seal  in  1828,  and  president  of  the  board  of  control  from  1828 
to  1830,  in  1838,  in  1841,  and  in  1858.  His  first  impulse  was  to  be 
satisfied  with  drawing  off  in  safety  the  garrisons  from  Kandahar 
and  Jalalabad,  but  bolder  counsels  were  forced  upon  him.  General 
George  Pollock,  who  was  marching  straight  through  the  Punjab 
to  relieve  General  Sale,  was  allowed  to  penetrate  to  Kabul.  Gen- 
eral William  Nott,  although  ordered  to  withdraw  from  Kandahar, 
resolved  to  go  round  by  way  of  Kabul.    Lord  Ellenborough  gave 


p  & 


CONSOLIDATION  919 

1842-1844 

his  commands  in  well-chosen  words,  which  would  leave  his  generals 
responsible  for  any  disaster.  General  Nott  accepted  that  responsi- 
bility, and,  instead  of  retreating  southeast  to  the  Indus,  boldly 
marched  north  to  Kabul.  After  hard  fighting  the  two  British 
armies,  under  Pollock  and  Nott,  met  at  their  common  destination 
in  Kabul,  in  September,  1842.  The  great  bazar  of  Kabul  was 
blown  up  with  gunpowder,  to  fix  a  stigma  upon  the  city ;  the  Brit- 
ish prisoners  were  recovered;  and  the  armies  marched  back  to 
India,  leaving  Dost  Mohammed  to  take  undisputed  possession  of 
his  throne.  The  drama  closed  with  a  bombastic  proclamation  from 
Lord  Ellenborough,  who  had  caused  the  gates  from  the  tomb  of 
Mahmud  of  Ghazni  to  be  carried  back  as  a  memorial  of  "  Somnath 
revenged."  The  gates  were  a  modern  forgery ;  and  their  theatrical 
procession  through  the  Punjab  formed  a  vainglorious  sequel  to 
Lord  Ellenborough's  timidity,  while  the  fate  of  the  British  armies 
hung  in  the  balance. 

Lord  Ellenborough,  who  loved  military  pomp,  had  his  tastes 
gratified  by  two  more  wars.  In  1843  the  Mohammedan  rulers  of 
Sind,  known  as  the  mirs  or  amirs,  whose  chief  fault  was  that  they 
would  not  surrender  their  independence,  were  crushed  by  Sir  Charles 
Napier.  Charles  James  Napier  was  born  in  London  on  August  10, 
1782,  and  entered  the  army  in  1794.  He  served  during  the  Napole- 
onic wars,  in  America  during  the  War  of  1812,  in  the  Ionian  Islands 
from  1 8 19  to  1830,  and  in  India  from  1841  to  1847,  and  from 
1849  to  1&S°-  He  was  knighted  in  1838.  The  story  goes  that 
Napier's  dispatch  announcing  the  conquest  of  Sind,  of  which  he 
disapproved,  consisted  of  the  one  word,  '"  peccavi,"  I  have  sinned 
(Sind). 

The  victory  of  Miani,  in  which  3000  British  troops  defeated 
12,000  Baluchis,  is  one  of  the  brilliant  feats  of  arms  in  Anglo- 
Indian  history,  but  valid  reasons  could  scarcely  be  found  for  the 
annexation  of  the  country.  In  the  same  year  a  disputed  succes- 
sion at  Gwalior,  fomented  by  feminine  intrigue,  resulted  in  an  out- 
break of  the  overgrown  army  which  the  Sindhia  family  kept  up. 
Peace  was  restored  by  the  battles  of  Maharajpur  and  Panniar,  at 
the  former  of  which  Lord  Ellenborough  was  present  in  person. 

In  1844  Lord  Ellenborough  was  recalled  by  the  court  of  di- 
rectors, who  differed  from  him  on  points  of  administration,  and 
distrusted  his  erratic  genius.  He  was  succeeded  by  a  veteran  soldier, 
Sir  Henry  Hardinge,  who  was  born  in  Kent,  England,  on  March 


INDIA 

1844-1845 

30,  1785,  and  entered  the  army  in  1799.  He  served  throughout 
the  Peninsular  War  and  the  Waterloo  campaign,  and  was  knighted 
in  181 5.  He  was  secretary  at  war  from  1828  to  1839  and  from 
1841  to  1844,  and  Irish  secretary  in  1830,  and  from  1834  to  1835. 
His  governor-generalship  lasted  from  1844  to  1848.  It  was  felt 
on  all  sides  that  a  trial  of  strength  between  the  British  and  the  one 
remaining  Hindu  power  in  India,  the  great  Sikh  nation,  was  near. 

The  Sikhs  were  not  a  nationality  like  the  Marathas,  but  orig- 
inally a  religious  sect,  bound  together  by  the  additional  tie  of  mili- 
tary discipline.  They  trace  their  origin  to  Nanak  Shah,  a  pious 
Hindu  reformer,  born  near  Lahore  in  1469,  before  the  ascendency 
of  either  Moguls  or  Portuguese  in  India.  Nanak,  like  other  zealous 
preachers  of  his  time,  preached  the  abolition  of  caste,  the  unity  of 
the  godhead,  and  the  duty  of  leading  a  pure  life.  From  Nanak 
ten  gurus  or  apostles  are  traced  down  to  Govind  Singh  in  1708, 
with  whom  the  succession  stopped.  Cruelly  persecuted  by  the  ruling 
Mohammedans,  almost  exterminated  under  the  miserable  successors 
of  Aurangzeb,  the  Sikh  martyrs  clung  to  their  faith  with  unflinch- 
ing zeal.  At  last  the  downfall  of  the  Mogul  empire  transformed  the 
sect  into  a  territorial  power.  It  was  the  only  political  organization 
remaining  in  the  Punjab.  The  Sikhs  in  the  north,  and  the  Marathas 
in  southern  and  central  India,  grew  into  the  two  great  Hindu 
powers  who  helped  to  partition  the  Mogul  empire. 

Even  before  the  rise  of  Ranjit  Singh,  offshoots  from  the  Sikh 
misls  or  confederacies,  each  led  by  its  elected  sardar  or  chief,  had 
carved  out  for  themselves  feudal  principalities  along  the  banks  of 
the  Sutlej,  some  of  which  endure  to  the  present  day.  Ranjit  Singh, 
the  founder  of  the  Sikh  kingdom  of  the  Punjab,  was  born  in  1780. 
In  his  twentieth  year  he  obtained  the  appointment  of  governor  of 
Lahore  from  the  Afghan  king,  and  formed  the  project  of  building 
up  his  personal  rule  on  the  religious  fanaticism  of  his  countrymen. 
He  organized  the  Sikhs,  or  "  the  liberated,"  into  an  army  under 
European  officers,  which  for  steadiness  and  religious  fervor  has 
had  no  parallel  since  the  "  Ironsides  "  of  Cromwell.  From  Lahore, 
as  his  capital,  he  extended  his  conquests  south  to  Multan,  west  to 
Peshawar,  and  north  to  Kashmir.  On  the  east  side  alone  he  was 
hemmed  in  by  the  Sutlej,  up  to  which  river  the  authority  of  the 
British  government  had  advanced  in  1804.  Till  his  death  in  1839, 
Ranjit  Singh  was  ever  loyal  to  the  engagements  which  he  entered 
into  with  Metcalfe  in  1809.     He  left  no  son  capable  of  wielding 


CONSOLIDATION  221 

1845-1846 

his  scepter.  Lahore  was  torn  by  dissensions  between  rival  generals, 
ministers,  and  queens.  The  only  strong  power  in  the  Punjab  was 
the  army  of  the  khalsa,  or  central  council  of  the  Sikhs,  which, 
since  the  British  disaster  in  Afghanistan,  burned  to  measure  its 
strength  with  the  British  sepoys.  Ran  jit  Singh's  skillful  European 
generals,  Avitabile  and  Court,  were  foolishly  ousted  from  their 
commands  in  the  Sikh  army,  and  the  supreme  military  power  was 
vested  in  a  series  of  panchayats,  or  elective  committees  of  five. 
General  Avitabile  was  a  Neapolitan  by  birth  who  had  been  in  the 
Persian  service.  He  was  long  famous  for  the  vigor  with  which 
he  administered  affairs  at  Peshawar.  Colonel  Court  was  a  French- 
man who  had  been  educated  at  the  Ecole  Polytechnique  at  Paris. 
The  most  famous  of  Ranjit  Singh's  officers  were,  however,  two 
former  soldiers  of  Napoleon,  General  Ventura,  an  Italian,  and  Gen- 
eral Allard  (1785-1839),  a  Frenchman,  both  of  whom  had  tried 
their  fortunes  in  Egypt  and  in  Persia.  Colonel  Gardiner,  an 
Irishman,  and  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt  were  among  the  other  officers 
of  Ranjit  Singh. 

In  1845  tne  Sikh  army,  numbering  60,000  men,  with  150  guns, 
crossed  the  Sutlej  and  invaded  British  territory.  Sir  Hugh  Gough, 
the  commander,  accompanied  by  the  governor-general,  Hardinge, 
who  showed  his  generous  and  knightly  character  by  waiving  his 
rights  and  serving  as  second  in  command  under  Gough,  hurried 
up  to  the  frontier.  Within  three  weeks  four  pitched  battles  were 
fought,  at  Mudki,  Firozshah,  Aliwal,  and  Sobraon.  Aliwal  was 
won  on  January  28,  1846,  by  General  Harry  Smith  (1788-1860),  a 
veteran  of  the  Peninsular  War,  of  the  War  of  181 2,  and  of  the 
Waterloo  campaign.  Smith  was  made  a  baronet  in  1847  and 
was  governor  of  the  Cape  Colony  from  1847  to  1852,  where  he  is 
commemorated  by  the  towns  of  Aliwal,  Harrismith,  and  his  wife 
by  Ladysmith. 

The  British  loss  on  each  occasion  was  heavy;  but  by  the 
last  victory  the  Sikhs  were  fairly  driven  back  across  the  Sutlej,  and 
Lahore  surrendered  to  the  British.  By  the  terms  of  peace  which 
were  granted,  Dhulip  Singh,  a  supposed  infant  son  of  Ranjit  by  a 
dancing  girl,  was  recognized  as  raja ;  the  Jalandhar  Doab,  or  tract 
between  the  Sutlej  and  the  Beas,  was  annexed ;  the  Sikh  army  was 
limited  to  a  specified  number;  Major  Henry  Lawrence  was  appointed 
to  be  resident  at  Lahore.  Henry  Montgomery  Lawrence  was  born 
in  Ceylon  on  June  28,  1806,  and  was  educated  at  Addiscombe  and 


INDIA 

1846-1853 

began  his  service  in  the  Bengal  army  in  1823.  He  was  resident  in 
Nepal  from  1843  to  1846,  served  in  the  Punjab  from  1846  to  1853, 
in  Rajputana  from  1853  to  1856  and  in  Oudh  from  1856  to  1857. 
He  was  knighted  in  1848.  A  British  force  was  sent  to  garrison  the 
Punjab  for  a  period  of  eight  years.  Sir  Henry  Hardinge  received 
a  peerage,  and  returned  to  England  in  1848. 

Lord  Dalhousie  succeeded.  James  Andrew  Brown  Ramsay 
was  born  in  Scotland,  on  April  22,  18 12.  He  succeeded  his  father 
in  1838  as  Baron  Dalhousie  in  the  peerage  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
and  as  earl  of  Dalhousie  in  the  Scotland  peerage.  He  was  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  trade  from  1845  to  J856.  The  eight  years' 
rule,  from  1848  to  1856,  of  this  greatest  of  Indian  proconsuls 
left  more  conspicuous  results  than  that  of  any  governor-general 
since  Lord  Wellesley,  perhaps  even  since  Clive.  A  high-minded 
statesman,  of  a  most  sensitive  conscience,  and  earnestly  desiring 
peace,  Lord  Dalhousie  found  himself  forced  against  his  will  to 
fight  two  wars,  and  to  embark  on  a  policy  of  annexation.  His 
campaigns  in  the  Punjab  and  in  Burma  ended  in  large  acquisitions 
of  territory;  while  Nagpur,  Oudh,  and  several  minor  states  also 
came  under  British  rule,  through  failure  of  direct  heirs. 

Dalhousie's  deepest  interest  lay  in  the  improvement  of  the 
moral  and  material  condition  of  the  country.  The  system  of  admin- 
istration carried  out  in  the  conquered  Punjab,  by  the  two  Lawrences 
and  their  assistants,  is  probably  the  most  successful  piece  of  govern- 
ing ever  accomplished  by  Englishmen.  John  Laird  Mair  Lawrence, 
younger  brother  of  Henry  Lawrence,  was  born  in  Yorkshire,  Eng- 
land, on  March  4,  181 1,  and  was  educated  at  Haileybury.  He  went 
to  Calcutta  in  1830.  From  1846  to  1848  he  was  administrator  of 
the  Jalandhar  Doab,  and  from  1848  to  1857  he  was  either  joint  or 
sole  administrator  of  the  Punjab.  After  several  years  in  England 
he  returned  to  India  as  viceroy  from  1864  to  1869.  He  was 
knighted  in  1856  and  created  Baron  Lawrence  in  1869.  He  died 
on  June  26,  1879,  m  London. 

The  chief  coadjutor  of  the  Lawrences  was  their  friend,  Robert 
Montgomery  (1809- 1887),  wno  after  valuable  services  in  the  Pun- 
jab became  chief  commissioner  of  Oudh  in  1858  and  was  knighted 
in  1859  and  served  as  lieutenant-governor  of  the  Punjab  from 
1859  to  1865.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Thomason.  From  1849 
to  1853  tne  Punjab  was  administered  by  a  board  of  three  composed 
of  the  two  Lawrences  and  Charles  Grenville  Mansell  (1806- 1886), 


CONSOLIDATION  223 

1853-1854 

who  was  soon  superseded  by  Montgomery.  In  1853  John  Law- 
rence was  put  in  sole  control.  Among  the  men  associated  with 
the  Lawrences  the  most  notable  were  Edwardes  and  Nicolson; 
James  Abbott  (1807-1896,  knighted  in  1894),  who  won  fame  as 
commissioner  of  Hazara,  where  the  city  of  Abbottabad  preserves 
his  name;  Reynell  George  Taylor  (1822-1886),  and  Richard 
Temple  (1826-1902,  baronet  1876),  who  was  private  secretary 
to  John  Lawrence,  and  later  the  occupant  of  many  important 
posts. 

Mention  should  be  made  at  this  point  of  the  exceedingly 
valuable  services  rendered  by  James  Thomason  (1804-1853)  as 
lieutenant-governor  of  the  Northwestern  Provinces  from  1843  to 
1853,  an<3  by  his  successor,  John  Russell  Colvin,  who  was  formerly 
secretary  to  Lord  Auckland,  and  who  died  at  Agra  during  the 
Mutiny.  The  administration  of  Sind  by  Henry  Bartle  Edward 
Frere  (181 5-1884,  knighted  1859)  as  chief  commissioner  from 
1850  to  1859  was  also  extremely  able. 

Burma  has  prospered  under  British  rule  not  less  than  the 
Punjab.  In  both  cases,  Lord  Dalhousie  himself  laid  the  foundations 
of  administrative  success,  and  deserves  a  large  share  of  the  credit. 
No  branch  of  the  administration  escaped  his  reforming  hand.  He 
founded  the  public  works  department,  with  a  view  to  creating  the 
network  of  roads  and  canals  which  now  covers  India.  He  opened 
the  Ganges  Canal,  still  the  largest  work  of  the  kind  in  the  country. 
It  was  begun  as  a  result  of  the  famine  of  1837- 1838.  Work  was 
begun  in  1842  and  the  canal  was  opened  on  April  8,  1854.  The 
canal  starts  at  Hardwar  and  extends  to  Jeyra,  where  it  joins  the 
Lower  Ganges  Canal,  which  was  constructed  twenty  years  later. 
The  length  of  the  main  line  of  the  Ganges  Canal  is  445  miles.  It 
is  intended  primarily  for  irrigation,  but  is  also  used  for  naviga- 
tion. The  Ganges  Canal  cost  more  than  $13,000,000  and  irrigates 
900,000  acres.  The  Lower  Ganges  Canal  irrigates  600,000  acres 
and  the  total  cost  of  the  system  has  been  about  $25,000,000.  It 
has  been  a  paying  investment  financially  as  well  as  an  aid  to  pre- 
vent famine.  Lord  Dalhousie  turned  the  sod  of  the  first  Indian 
railroad.  This  was  begun  in  1850  and  in  1853  it  was  opened  for 
traffic,  being  that  portion  of  the  Great  Indian  Peninsular  Railways 
which  is  between  Bombay  and  Shana,  a  distance  of  about  twenty 
miles. 

He  promoted  steam  communication  with  England  by  way  of 


224  INDIA 

1854-1856 

the  Red  Sea.  The  mails  were  first  regularly  carried  by  the  Suez 
route  in  1837.  The  navigation  of  the  Red  Sea  remained  in  the 
control  of  the  East  India  Company  until  1854.  The  Peninsular  and 
Oriental  Steam  Navigation  Company  was  incorporated  in  Decem- 
ber, 1840,  and  sent  its  first  steamer  to  India  in  1842,  and  in  1845 
began  the  regular  monthly  service  around  the  Cape.     In  1854  the 


Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company  was  able  to  open  the  regular 
service  by  the  Red  Sea  route,  which  was  improved  by  the  railway 
across  the  isthmus  in  1859,  and  by  the  canal  in  1869.  The  service 
is  now  weekly.  The  time  from  London  to  Bombay  is  now  14  days 
as  opposed  to  23  before  the  canal  was  opened. 

Dalhousie  also  introduced  cheap  postage  and  the  electric  tele- 
graph. The  adhesive  postage  stamp  was  first  used  in  India  by  Sir 
Bartle  Frere  in  Sind  and  was  adopted  for  general  use  in  1854,  and 
the  rate  made  uniform  for  all  distances  in  India  at  one-half  anna 


CONSOLIDATION  225 

1848-1856 

per  one-half  tola,  that  is  about  one  cent  per  ninety  grains  in  weight. 
The  rate  has  since  been  lowered. 

The  first  director  general  of  telegraphs  in  India  was  William 
Brooke  O'Shaughnessy,  who  was  born  in  Limerick  in  1809  and 
received  the  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine  from  Edinburgh  in  1830. 
In  1833  he  became  assistant  surgeon  in  the  Bengal  army,  where  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  telegraphy.  Lord  Dalhousie  au- 
thorized him  to  construct  an  experimental  line  and  in  1852  he  was 
appointed  director  general  of  telegraphs  and  authorized  to  con- 
struct an  extensive  system.  The  800-mile  line  from  Calcutta  to 
Agra  was  opened  in  March,  1854,  and  two  years  later  4000  miles 
were  in  operation,  including  lines  to  Bombay  and  Madras.  Law- 
rence said :  "  The  telegraph  saved  India "  during  the  Mutiny. 
O'Shaughnessy  was  knighted  in  1856.  He  retired  in  1861  and 
changed  his  name  to  William  O'Shaughnessy  Brooke.  He  died 
January  10,  1889.  Telegraph  communication  between  India  and 
England  was  opened  in  1865  by  the  Persian  Gulf  line. 

It  is  Lord  Dalhousie's  misfortune  that  these  benefits  are  too 
often  forgotten  in  the  recollections  of  the  Mutiny,  which  followed 
his  policy  of  annexation,  after  the  firm  hand  which  had  remodeled 
British  India  was  withdrawn. 

By  act  of  August  20,  1853,  the  charter  of  the  East  India 
Company  was  renewed  for  an  indefinite  term  of  years.  This  act 
was  amended  a  year  later.  One  important  feature  of  the  act  of 
1853  was  the  establishment  of  the  office  of  lieutenant-governor  of 
Bengal,  which  relieved  the  governor-general  of  immediate  charge 
of  local  administration.  These  acts  were  largely  the  work  of  Sir 
Charles  Wood  (1800-1885,  created  Viscount  Halifax  1866),  who 
was  president  of  the  board  of  control  from  1852  to  1855.  Sir 
Charles  Wood's  famous  dispatch  of  July,  1854,  based  upon  informa- 
tion furnished  by  Dalhousie,  outlined  the  system  of  Indian  edu- 
cation which  Dalhousie  proceeded  to  establish  and  which  has  been 
perfected  by  his  successors.  Wood  was  later  secretary  of  state  for 
India  during  the  important  period  from  1859  to  1866. 

Lord  Dalhousie  had  not  been  six  months  in  India  before  the 
second  Sikh  or  Punjab  War  broke  out.  Two  British  officers  were 
treacherously  assassinated  at  Multan.  Unfortunately,  Henry  Law- 
rence, the  resident  at  Lahore,  was  at  home  on  sick  leave.  The 
British  army  was  not  ready  to  act  in  the  hot  weather;  and,  despite 
the  single-handed  exertions  of  Lieutenant  Herbert  Benjamin  Ed- 


226  INDIA 

1854-1856 

wardes,  this  outbreak  of  fanaticism  led  to  a  general  rising  in  the 
Punjab.  The  khalsa  army  of  the  Sikhs  again  came  together,  and 
once  more  fought  on  even  terms  with  the  British.  On  the  fatal 
field  of  Chilianwala,  which  English  patriotism  prefers  to  call  a 
drawn  battle,  the  British  lost  2400  officers  and  men,  four  guns, 
and  the  colors  of  three  regiments,  January  13,  1849.  Before  rein- 
forcements could  come  out  from  England,  with  Sir  Charles  Napier 
as  commander-in-chief,  Lord  Gough  had  restored  his  reputation 
by  the  crowning  victory  of  Gujrat,  which  absolutely  destroyed  the 
Sikh  army.  Gujrat  (not  to  be  confused  with  the  Gujarat)  is  lo- 
cated near  the  River  Chenab,  north  of  Lahore.  Multan  had  previ- 
ously fallen,  and  the  allied  Mohammedan  cavalry  from  Afghanistan, 
who  had  forgotten  their  religious  antipathy  to  the  Sikhs,  and 
joined  with  them  in  a  common  hatred  of  the  British  name,  were 
chased  back  with  ignominy  to  their  native  hills.  The  Punjab,  an- 
nexed by  proclamation  on  March  29,  1849,  became  a  British  prov- 
ince^— a  virgin  field  for  the  administrative  talents  of  Dalhousie  and 
the  two  Lawrences.  Maharaja  Dhulip  Singh  received  an  allow- 
ance of  58,000/.  a  year,  on  which  he  lived  for  many  years  as  an 
English  country  gentleman  in  Norfolk.  The  famous  diamond,  the 
Koh-i-nur,  which  had  belonged  to  Ranjit  Singh,  passed  into  Eng- 
lish hands  at  this  time,  and  in  July,  1850,  was  presented  to  Queen 
Victoria.  In  1849  the  earl  of  Dalhousie  was  advanced  to  a 
marquisate. 

The  first  step  in  the  pacification  of  the  Punjab  was  a  general 
disarmament,  which  resulted  in  the  delivery  of  no  fewer  than  120,- 
000  weapons  of  various  kinds.  Then  followed  a  settlement  of  the 
land  tax,  village  by  village,  at  an  assessment  much  below  the  rates 
to  which  it  had  been  raised  by  Sikh  exactions;  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  loose  but  equitable  code  of  civil  and  criminal  procedure. 
Roads  and  canals  were  laid  out  by  Colonel  Robert  Cornelis  Napier, 
later  created  Baron  Napier  of  Magdala. 

The  security  of  British  peace,  and  the  personal  influence  of 
British  officers,  inaugurated  a  new  era  of  prosperity,  which  was 
felt  to  the  farthest  corners  of  the  province.  It  thus  happened  that, 
when  the  Mutiny  broke  out  in  1857,  the  Punjab  remained  not  only 
quiet,  but  loyal. 

The  second  Burmese  war,  in  1852,  arose  out  of  the  ill-treatment 
of  some  European  merchants  at  Rangoon,  and  the  insults  offered 
to  the  captain  of  a  British  frigate  who  had  been  sent  to  remonstrate. 


CONSOLIDATION  227 

1846-1856 

The  whole  valley  of  the  Irawadi,  from  Rangoon  up  to  Prome,  was 
occupied  in  a  few  months.  As  the  king-  of  Ava  refused  to  treat, 
the  conquered  tracts  of  lower  Burma  were  annexed  by  proclama- 
tion, on  December  20,  1852,  under  the  name  of  Pegu,  to  the  prov- 
inces of  Arakan  and  Tenasserim,  which  had  been  acquired  in  1826, 
after  the  first  Burmese  war. 

Since  annexation,  the  inhabitants  of  Rangoon  had  multiplied 
fourteenfold  by  1891.  The  trade  of  the  port,  which  four  years 
after  its  annexation  (1857-1858)  amounted  to  2,131,055/.,  had  in- 
creased in  1 88 1- 1882  to  11,723,781/.  The  towns  and  the  rural  tracts 
have  alike  prospered.  Before  1826  Amherst  district  was  the  scene 
of  perpetual  warfare  between  the  kings  of  Siam  and  Pegu,  and  was 
stripped  of  inhabitants.  In  February,  1827,  a  Talaing  chief,  with 
10,000  followers,  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  Maulmain;  and, 
after  a  few  years,  a  further  influx  of  20,000  immigrants  took  place. 
In  1855  the  population  of  Amherst  district  amounted  to  83,146 
souls;  in  i860,  to  130,953;  and  in  1 881,  to  301,086.  Or,  to  take 
the  case  of  a  seaport.  In  1826,  when  the  British  annexed  the 
province  of  Arakan,  Akyab  was  a  poor  fishing  village.  By  1830 
it  had  developed  into  a  little  town,  with  a  trade  valued  at  7000/. 
In  1881  the  trade  approached  2§  millions  sterling;  so  that  the 
trade  of  Akyab  multiplied  nearly  four  hundredfold  in  fifty  years. 
The  population  of  lower  Burma  increased  from  1,250,000  in  1855 
to  over  4,500,000  in  1891.  The  annexation  of  the  kingdom  of 
Burma  in  1886  made  the  total  population  in  1891  more  than  7,700,- 
000,  which  was  increased  to  10,500,000  in  1901. 

Lord  Dalhousie's  dealings  with  the  feudatory  states  of  India 
revealed  the  whole  nature  of  the  man.  That  rulers  exist  only  for 
the  good  of  the  ruled,  was  his  supreme  axiom  of  government,  of 
which  he  gave  a  conspicuous  example  in  his  own  daily  life.  That 
British  administration  was  better  for  the  people  than  native  rule, 
seemed  to  him  to  follow  from  this  axiom.  The  truth  is  that  the 
system  of  British  protectorates,  as  developed  by  Lord  Wellesley 
and  his  successors,  had  proved  by  no  means  a  complete  success.  It 
practically  secured  to  the  native  chiefs  their  principalities  and  rev- 
enues, however  they  might  abuse  their  position  and  oppress  their 
subjects.  A  remedy  for  this  state  of  things  was  worked  out  in  the 
India  of  Victoria  by  enforcing  a  higher  standard  of  personal  re- 
sponsibility on  the  feudatory  princes  of  India,  but  in  Lord  Dal- 
housie's time  the  old  unreformed  system  was  bearing  its  last  and 


228  INDIA 

1854-1856 

worst  fruits.  Dalhousie  was  thus  led  to  regard  native  chiefs  as 
mischievous  anomalies,  to  be  abolished  by  every  fair  means.  Good 
faith  must  be  kept  with  princes  on  the  throne,  and  with  their  legiti- 
mate heirs,  but  no  false  sentiment  should  preserve  dynasties  which 
had  forfeited  sympathy  by  generations  of  misrule,  or  prolong  those 
that  had  no  natural  successor.  The  "  doctrine  of  lapse  "  was  the 
practical  application  of  these  principles,  complicated  by  the  Indian 
practice  of  adoption.  It  has  never  been  doubted  that,  according  to 
Hindu  private  law,  an  adopted  son  entirely  fills  the  place  of  a 
natural  son,  whether  to  perform  the  religious  obsequies  of  his 
father  or  to  inherit  his  property.  In  all  respects  he  continues  the 
rights  of  the  deceased.  It  was  argued,  however,  both  as  a  matter 
of  historical  fact  and  on  grounds  of  political  expediency,  that  the 
succession  to  a  throne  stood  upon  a  different  footing.  The  para- 
mount power  could  not  recognize  such  a  right,  which  might  be 
used  as  a  fraud  to  hand  over  the  happiness  of  millions  to  a  base- 
born  impostor.  Here  came  in  Lord  Dalhousie's  maxim  of  "  the 
good  of  the  governed."  In  his  mind  the  benefits  to  be  conferred 
through  British  administration  weighed  heavier  than  a  supersti- 
tious and  often  fraudulent  fiction  of  inheritance. 

When  a  native  chief  left  direct  male  heirs  of  his  body,  Lord 
Dalhousie  recognized  their  right  to  succeed  alike  to  the  private 
fortune  and  the  public  government  of  their  father,  but  when  there 
was  only  an  adopted  son,  Lord  Dalhousie,  while  scrupulously  re- 
specting the  claims  of  the  heirs  to  the  private  fortune  of  the  late 
chief,  denied  the  right  of  the  adopted  son  to  succeed  to  the  public 
government  of  the  state.  He  held  the  government  of  a  native 
state  to  be  a  public  trust ;  he  also  held  that,  in  the  absence  of  direct 
male  issue  with  a  lawful  claim  to  succeed,  the  succession  must  be 
decided  by  the  British  government,  not  in  the  interests  of  the  family 
of  the  late  chief,  but  in  the  interests  of  the  people.  Those  interests 
he  believed  to  be  most  effectually  protected  by  bringing  them  undei 
direct  British  rule. 

The  first  state  to  escheat  to  the  British  government,  in  accord- 
ance with  these  principles,  was  Satara,  which  had  been  reconsti- 
tuted by  Lord  Hastings  on  the  downfall  of  the  peshwa  in  1818. 
The  raja  of  Satara,  the  last  direct  representative  of  Sivaji,  died 
without  a  son  in  1848,  and  his  deathbed  adoption  of  a  son  was  set 
aside  in  1849.  I*1  tne  same  year  the  Rajput  state  of  Karauli  was 
saved  by  the  court  of  directors,  who  drew  a  fine  distinction  be- 


CONSOLIDATION  229 

1848-1856 

tween  a  dependent  principality  and  a  protected  ally.  In  1853 
Jhansi  suffered  the  same  fate  as  Satara.  The  most  conspicuous 
application  of  the  doctrine  of  lapse  was  the  case  of  Nagpur.  The 
last  of  the  Maratha  Bhonslas,  a  dynasty  older  than  the  British  gov- 
ernment in  India,  died  without  a  son,  natural  or  adopted,  in  1853. 
His  territories  were  annexed,  and  became  part  of  the  Central 
Provinces.  That  year  also  saw  British  administration  extended 
to  the  Berars,  or  the  Assigned  Districts,  which  the  nizam  of 
Haidarabad  was  induced  to  hand  over  as  a  territorial  guarantee 
for  the  subsidies  which  he  perpetually  left  in  arrear.  The  relics 
of  three  other  dynasties  also  passed  away  in  1853,  although  without 
any  attendant  accretion  to  British  territory.  In  the  extreme  south 
the  titular  nawab  of  the  Karnatik  and  the  titular  raja  of  Tan j ore 
both  died  without  heirs.  Their  rank  and  their  pensions  died  with 
them,  but  compassionate  allowances  were  continued  to  their  fam- 
ilies. In  the  north  of  India  Baji  Rao,  the  ex-peshwa,  who  had  been 
dethroned  in  1818,  lived  on  till  1853  in  the  enjoyment  of  his 
annual  pension  of  80,000/.  His  adopted  son,  Nana  Sahib,  inherited 
his  accumulated  savings,  but  could  obtain  no  further  recognition. 
Lord  Dalhousie  annexed  the  kingdom  of  Oudh  on  different 
grounds.  Ever  since  the  nawab  wazir,  Shuja-ud-daula,  received 
back  his  forfeited  territories  of  Oudh  from  Lord  Clive  in  1765, 
the  existence  of  his  dynasty  had  depended  on  the  protection  of 
British  bayonets.  Guarded  alike  from  foreign  invasion  and  from 
domestic  rebellion,  the  line  of  Oudh  nawabs  had  sunk  into  private 
debauchees  and  public  oppressors.  Their  one  virtue  was  steady 
loyalty  to  the  British  government.  The  fertile  districts  between 
the  Ganges  and  the  Gogra,  which  now  support  a  denser  agricultural 
population  than  almost  any  rural  area  of  the  size  on  this  globe, 
had  been  groaning  for  generations  under  an  anarchy  for  which 
each  British  governor-general  felt  himself  in  part  responsible. 
Warning  after  warning  had  been  given  to  the  nawabs,  who  had 
assumed  the  title  of  shah  or  king,  since  18 19,  that  they  must  "  put 
their  house  in  order."  What  the  benevolent  Bentinck  and  the  sol- 
dierly Hardinge  had  only  threatened,  was  now  performed  by  Lord 
Dalhousie,  who  united  an  equal  honesty  of  purpose  with  sterner 
decision  of  character.  He  laid  the  whole  case  before  the  court 
of  directors.  After  long  and  painful  hesitation,  the  court  of  di- 
rectors resolved  on  annexation.  Lord  Dalhousie,  then  on  the  eve 
of  retiring,  felt  that  it  would  be  unfair  to  bequeath  this  perilous 


230  INDIA 

1856 

task  to  his  successor  in  the  first  moments  of  his  rule.  The  tardy 
decision  of  the  court  of  directors  left  him,  however,  only  a  few 
weeks  to  carry  out  the  work,  but  he  solemnly  believed  that  work 
to  be  his  duty  to  the  people  of  Oudh.  "  With  this  feeling  on  my 
mind,"  he  wrote  privately,  "  and  in  humble  reliance  on  the  blessing 
of  the  Almighty  (for  millions  of  His  creatures  will  draw  freedom 
and  happiness  from  the  change),  I  approach  the  execution  of  this 
duty  gravely  and  not  without  solicitude,  but  calmly  and  altogether 
without  doubt." 

Accordingly,  at  the  commencement  of  1856,  the  last  year  of 
his  rule,  Dalhousie  gave  orders  to  General  Outram,  the  "  Bayard 
of  India,"  then  resident  at  the  court  of  Lucknow,  to  assume  the 
administration  of  Oudh,  on  the  ground  that  "  the  British  govern- 
ment would  be  guilty  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man  if  it  were  any 
longer  to  aid  in  sustaining  by  its  countenance  an  administration 
fraught  with  suffering  to  millions."  The  proclamation  was  issued 
on  February  13,  1856.  The  king  of  Oudh,  Wajid  Ali,  bowed  to 
irresistible  force,  although  he  refused  to  recognize  the  justice  of 
his  deposition.  After  a  mission  to  England  by  way  of  protest 
and  appeal,  he  settled  down  in  the  pleasant  suburb  of  Garden  Reach, 
near  Calcutta,  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  pension  of  120,000/.  a  year. 
Oudh  was  thus  annexed  without  a  blow,  but  this  measure,  on  which 
Lord  Dalhousie  looked  back  with  the  proudest  sense  of  rectitude, 
was  perhaps  the  act  of  his  rule  that  most  alarmed  native  public 
opinion. 

The  marquis  of  Dalhousie  resigned  office  in  March,  1856, 
being  then  only  forty- four  years  of  age ;  but  he  carried  home  with 
him  the  seeds  of  a  lingering  illness  which  resulted  in  his  death  in 
i860.  Excepting  Cornwallis,  he  was  the  first,  though  by  no  means 
the  last,  of  English  statesmen  who  have  fallen  victims  to  their  de- 
votion to  India's  needs.  Lord  Dalhousie  completed  the  fabric 
of  British  rule  in  India.  The  Indian  empire,  as  mapped  out  by 
Lord  Wellesley  and  Lord  Hastings  during  the  first  quarter  of  the 
century,  had  received  the  addition  of  Sind  in  1843.  The  marquis 
of  Dalhousie  finally  filled  in  the  wide  spaces  covered  by  Oudh,  the 
Central  Provinces,  and  smaller  states  within  India,  together  with 
the  great  outlying  territories  of  the  Punjab  on  the  northwestern 
frontier,  and  the  richest  part  of  British  Burma  beyond  the  sea. 

The  great  governor-general  was  succeeded  by  his  friend, 
Charles  John  Canning,  third  son  of  George  Canning.    Lord  Can- 


CONSOLIDATION  231 

1856-1857 

ning  was  born  on  December  14,  1812.  In  1837  he  succeeded  his 
mother  as  Viscount  Canning  in  the  Irish  peerage.  He  was  under 
secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs  from  1841  to  1846  and  post- 
master general  from  1853  to  I855-  He  became  governor-general 
of  India  in  1856  and  upon  the  transfer  of  India  to  the  crown  became 
the  first  viceroy  of  India,  and  was  created  Earl  Canning  in  1859. 
He  died  in  London,  June  17,  1862,  a  few  weeks  after  his  return 
from  India.  Lady  Canning,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Lord  Stuart 
de  Rothesay,  was  a  popular  social  leader  in  London  and  in  Calcutta. 
She  died  in  India  in  1861. 

At  the  farewell  banquet  in  England,  given  to  him  by  the  court 
of  directors,  Lord  Canning  uttered  these  prophetic  words:  "  I 
wish  for  a  peaceful  term  of  office.  But  I  cannot  forget  that  in  the 
sky  of  India,  serene  as  it  is,  a  small  cloud  may  arise,  no  larger  than 
a  man's  hand,  but  which,  growing  larger  and  larger,  may  at  last 
threaten  to  burst  and  overwhelm  us  with  ruin."  In  the  following 
year  the  sepoys  of  the  Bengal  army  mutinied,  and  all  the  valley 
of  the  Ganges  from  Patna  to  Delhi  was  enveloped  in  the  flame. 


Chapter  XV 

THE    SEPOY   MUTINY   OF    1857 

THE  various  motives  assigned  for  the  Mutiny  appear  inade- 
quate to  the  Western  mind.  The  truth  seems  to  be 
that  native  opinion  throughout  India  was  in  a  ferment, 
predisposing  men  to  believe  the  wildest  stories,  and  to  rush  into 
action  in  a  paroxysm  of  terror.  Panic  acts  on  an  oriental  popula- 
tion like  drink  upon  a  European  mob.  The  annexation  policy  of 
Lord  Dalhousie,  although  dictated  by  the  most  enlightened  con- 
siderations, was  distasteful  to  the  native  mind.  The  spread  of  edu- 
cation, the  appearance  at  the  same  moment  of  the  steam  engine  and 
the  telegraph  wire,  seemed  to  reveal  a  deep  plan  for  substituting 
an  English  for  an  Indian  civilization.  The  Bengal  sepoys  especially 
thought  that  they  could  see  further  than  the  rest  of  their  country- 
men. Most  of  them  were  Hindus  of  high  caste ;  many  of  them  were 
recruited  from  Oudh.  They  regarded  reforms  on  Western  lines 
as  attacks  on  their  own  nationality,  and  they  knew  at  first  hand  what 
annexation  meant.  They  believed  it  was  by  their  prowess  that 
the  Punjab  had  been  conquered,  and  that  all  India  was  held.  The 
numerous  dethroned  princes,  or  their  heirs  and  widows,  were  the 
first  to  learn  and  take  advantage  of  this  spirit  of  disaffection  and 
panic.  They  had  heard  of  the  Crimean  War,  and  were  told  that 
Russia  was  the  perpetual  enemy  of  England.  The  Company's 
munificent  pensions  had  supplied  the  funds  with  which  they  could 
buy  the  aid  of  skillful  intriguers.  The  Mutiny  was  confined  to  the 
Bengal  army,  which  recognized  the  caste  system,  while  the  Madras 
and  Bombay  armies,  which  disregarded  caste,  remained  loyal.  The 
ruling  native  princes  remained  true  to  the  English  government, 
sometimes  under  sore  temptations,  as  in  the  case  of  Sindhia  at 
Gwalior.  The  Mutiny  was  not  a  national  rising  on  the  part  of  the 
people  except  in  Oudh.  In  general  the  people  of  India  continued 
to  go  about  their  daily  toil  unmoved,  though  there  was  widespread 
agitation  by  both  Hindu  and  Mohammedan  fanatics. 

232 


SEPOY     MUTINY  233 

1857 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Company  had  not  sufficiently  opened 
up  the  higher  posts  in  its  service  to  natives  of  education,  talent,  or 
proved  fidelity.  It  had  taken  important  steps  in  this  direction  in 
respect  to  the  lower  grades  of  appointments,  but  the  prizes  of  Indian 
official  life,  many  of  which  are  now  thrown  open  to  natives  of 
India  by  the  crown,  were  then  the  monopoly  of  a  handful  of  Eng- 
lishmen. Shortly  before  the  Mutiny,  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  pointed 
out  that  even  the  army  supplied  no  career  to  a  native  officer  which 
could  satisfy  the  reasonable  ambition  of  an  able  man.  He  insisted 
on  the  serious  dangers  arising  from  this  state  of  things;  but  his 
warnings  were  unheeded  till  too  late.  In  the  crisis  of  the  Mutiny 
they  were  remembered.  He  was  nominated  provisional  governor- 
general  in  event  of  any  accident  happening  to  Lord  Canning ;  and 
Queen  Victoria's  proclamation,  on  the  transfer  of  the  government 
from  the  Company  to  the  crown  at  the  end  of  the  great  struggle, 
affirmed  the  principle  which  he  had  so  powerfully  urged.  "  And  it 
is  our  further  will,"  were  her  majesty's  gracious  words,  "  that,  so 
far  as  may  be,  our  subjects,  of  whatever  race  or  creed,  be  freely 
and  impartially  admitted  to  offices  in  our  service,  the  duties  of 
which  they  may  be  qualified  by  their  education,  ability,  and  integ- 
rity duly  to  discharge."  Under  the  Company  this  liberal  policy 
was  unknown.  The  sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857,  therefore,  found  many 
of  the  Indian  princes,  especially  the  dethroned  dynasties,  hostile 
to  the  Company ;  while  a  multitude  of  its  own  native  officers  were 
either  actively  disloyal  or  indifferent  to  its  fate. 

In  this  critical  state  of  affairs,  a  rumor  ran  through  the  native 
army  that  the  cartridges  served  out  to  the  Bengal  regiments  had 
been  greased  with  the  fat  of  pigs — animals  which  are  unclean  alike 
to  Hindu  and  Mohammedan.  No  assurances  could  quiet  the  minds 
of  the  sepoys.  Indeed  the  evidence  shows  that  a  disastrous  blun- 
der had  in  truth  been  made  in  this  matter — a  blunder  which,  al- 
though quickly  remedied,  was  remedied  too  late.  Fires  occurred 
nightly  in  the  native  lines;  officers  were  insulted  by  their  men; 
confidence  was  gone,  and  only  the  form  of  discipline  remained. 

In  addition,  the  outbreak  of  the  storm  found  the  native  regi- 
ments denuded  of  many  of  their  best  officers.  The  administration 
of  the  great  empire  to  which  Dalhousie  had  put  the  capstone  re- 
quired a  larger  staff  than  the  civil  service  could  supply.  The  prac- 
tice of  selecting  able  military  men  for  civil  posts,  which  had  long 
existed,  received  a  sudden  and  vast  development.    Oudh,  the  Pun- 


234.  INDIA 

1857 

jab,  the  Central  Provinces,  and  British  Burma  were  administered 
to  a  large  extent  by  picked  officers  from  the  Company's  regiments. 
Good  and  skillful  commanders  remained;  but  the  native  army 
had  nevertheless  been  drained  of  many  of  its  brightest  intellects  and 
firmest  wills  at  the  very  crisis  of  its  fate.  At  the  same  time  the 
British  troops  in  India  had,  in  spite  of  Lord  Dalhousie's  remon- 
strances, been  reduced  far  below  the  strength  which  the  great 
governor-general  declared  to  be  essential  to  the  safety  of  the  Com- 
pany's rule.  Two  regiments  were  withdrawn  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  Crimean  War.  Several  regiments  were  also  absent  on  the 
Persian  campaign  under  Outram  at  the  beginning  of  1857.  ^n 
1854  there  were  31  battalions  of  regulars  in  India,  but  Dalhousie 
asked  for  37.  Dalhousie  would  have  diminished  the  size  of  the 
native  army,  and  he  did  so  distribute  it  as  to  have  the  individual 
stations  as  small  as  possible.  Dalhousie  enlisted  an  irregular  force 
in  the  Punjab  under  the  Punjab  government,  which  he  kept  sepa- 
rate from  the  native  army,  and  which  proved  so  useful  during  the 
Mutiny.  He  also  adopted  the  policy  of  enlisting  Ghurkas.  Im- 
mediately before  the  Mutiny  there  were  in  India  232,224  native 
troops  and  45,522  Europeans,  of  whom  6170  were  officers.  Mont- 
gomery Martin  ("Indian  Empire")  says:  "In  Bombay  the  rela- 
tive strength  of  European  to  native  infantry  was  as  1  to  9I;  in 
Madras  as  1  to  i6§;  and  in  Bengal  as  1  to  24I."  One  of  Dal- 
housie's last  official  acts  was  to  submit  to  the  home  authorities  a 
series  of  minutes  containing  recommendations  concerning  the  army 
in  India,  but  his  earnest  representations  on  this  subject  were  lying 
disregarded  in  London  when  the  panic  about  the  greased  cartridges 
spread  through  the  native  regiments,  and  the  storm  burst  upon 
Bengal. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  May  10,  1857,  the  sepoys  at 
Meerut,  35  miles  northeast  of  Delhi,  broke  into  open  mutiny. 
They  forced  open  the  jail  and  rushed  in  a  wild  torrent  through 
the  cantonments,  cutting  down  any  European  whom  they  met. 
They  then  streamed  off  to  Delhi,  to  stir  up  the  native  garrison 
and  the  criminal  population  of  that  great  city,  and  to  place  them- 
selves under  the  authority  of  the  titular  Mogul  emperor.  Meerut  was 
then  the  largest  military  station  in  northern  India,  with  a  strong 
European  garrison  of  foot,  horse,  and  guns,  sufficient  to  overwhelm 
the  mutineers  long  before  they  could  have  reached  Delhi;  but 
as  the  sepoys  acted  in  irrational  panic,  so  the  British  officers,  in 


SEPOYMUTINY  235 

1857 

but  too  many  cases,  behaved  with  equally  irrational  indecision.  The 
news  of  the  outbreak  was  telegraphed  to  Delhi,  and  nothing  more 
was  done  at  Meerut  that  night.  At  the  moment  when  one  strong 
will  might  have  saved  India,  no  soldier  in  authority  at  Meerut 
seemed  able  to  think  or  act.  The  next  morning  the  Mohammedans 
of  Delhi  rose,  and  all  that  the  Europeans  there  could  do  was  to  blow 
up  the  magazine. 

A  rallying  center  and  a  traditional  name  were  thus  given  to 
the  revolt,  which  forthwith  spread  like  wildfire  through  the  North- 
western Provinces  and  Oudh  down  into  Lower  Bengal.  The  same 
narrative  must  suffice  for  all  the  outbreaks,  although  each  episode 
has  its  own  story  of  sadness  and  devotion.  The  sepoys  rose  on 
their  officers,  usually  without  warning,  sometimes  after  protesta- 
tions of  fidelity — protestations  in  some  cases  perhaps  true  at  the 
moment.  The  Europeans,  or  persons  of  Christian  faith,  were  often 
massacred;  occasionally,  also,  the  women  and  children.  The  jail 
was  broken  open,  the  treasury  plundered,  and  the  mutineers  marched 
off  to  some  center  of  revolt,  to  join  in  what  had  now  become  a 
national  war.  Only  in  the  Punjab  were  the  sepoys  anticipated  by 
stern  measures  of  repression  and  disarmament,  carried  out  by  Sir 
John  Lawrence  and  his  lieutenants,  among  whom  Edwardes  and 
Nicholson  stand  conspicuous.  John  Nicholson  was  born  in  Dublin 
on  December  i,  1821,  and  went  to  Calcutta  in  1839  to  enter  the 
Bengal  infantry.  He  served  in  Afghanistan  and  the  Punjab,  being 
employed  as  an  administrative  officer  at  Bannu  in  the  Punjab  from 
185 1  to  1856.  He  died  at  Delhi  from  wounds  on  September  23, 
1857.  To  the  natives  he  appeared  to  be  a  demi-god  and  was  ac- 
tually worshiped  as  Nikkul  Seyn  by  a  brotherhood  of  fakirs.  The 
Sikh  population  never  wavered.  Crowds  of  willing  Mohammedan 
recruits  from  the  Afghan  hills  joined  the  British.  Thus  the  Pun- 
jab, instead  of  being  itself  a  source  of  danger,  was  able  to  furnish 
a  portion  of  its  own  garrison  for  the  siege  of  Delhi.  In  Lower 
Bengal  most  of  the  sepoys  mutinied  and  then  dispersed  in  dif- 
ferent directions.  The  native  armies  of  Madras  and  Bombay  re- 
mained, on  the  whole,  true  to  their  colors.  In  central  India  the 
contingents  of  some  of  the  great  chiefs  sooner  or  later  threw  in 
their  lot  with  the  rebels,  but  the  Mohammedan  state  of  Haidarabad 
was  kept  loyal  by  the  authority  of  its  minister,  Sir  Salar  Jang. 
This  able  man  was  born  in  1829  and  became  the  prime  minister  to 
the  nizam  in  1853,  which  position  he  continued  to  hold  until  his 


236  INDIA 

1857 

death  on  February  8,  1883.    He  was  created  a  G.  C.  S.  L,  and  in 
1876  he  visited  England. 

The  main  interest  of  the  sepoy  war  gathers  round  the  three 
cities  of  Cawnpur,  Lucknow,  and  Delhi.  The  cantonments  at 
Cawnpur  contained  one  of  the  great  native  garrisons  of  India.  At 
Bithur,  not  far  off,  was  the  palace  of  Dundhu  Panth,  the  heir  of  the 
last  peshwa,  whose  more  familiar  name  of  Nana  Sahib  will  ever 
be  handed  down  to  infamy.  On  the  death  of  Baji  Rao,  the  last 
peshwa,  in  1853,  Dalhousie  recognized  the  right  of  his  adopted 


—\                  \    .Meerut                  }                                              \~- .                    ™*    MUTINY 
\                        *-»,     N     O      R     T     M        ^                                *                                     V--->> 

*              U             \     w    E    9    T     E    R    N        V*"V                                                              .               i      jC 

( 

XJ 

•                            S                                      LycKnow               V*^                                                                f 

*»v 

*                  c~~"     sXg     R     O     V     1      N    c     e    S      *'"v'\           ,-                          ,,     5 

\. 

*    »■«      h     "    3      Ca^pur                                    \     -\.'     V....^"-      * 

<-J?          a                 Allahabad          \ 

«.  *             \   vv;  !       .-»           f'...-'"'\ 

*  <\ «                t~-~           c  h      va 

p      Jabalpar    "V           /^*N      -    '   ■»*■-. 
./•'"<•■'   CENTRAL                   /*J       \      V    y-T              ,..,,                         C°,C 

atta 

:                                      A        Vi  i       JL/\          <v? 

— '\      J       «r... y\                     .-•    :                     «..'        (     — ,        •>       ,0-^         T>  " 

^d                          f*-»      N8,pur       '^./-J                             . _L/*-*  * %  '"*'"    C         8     *      y 

:,b   1    r   a  r\      p"  r     o    v    i     n   c    e,,s  ?       ,—     0«-       ~>*c«tp,c„      •' 

•'"    7             x                  >     4 ^^    /•«■■•- 

4^ 

son,  Nana  Sahib,  to  inherit  the  private  estate  of  the  late  peshwa, 
and  to  this  fortune  he  added  the  jaghir  of  the  land  on  which 
Baji  Rao  had  lived  in  the  Northwestern  Provinces,  but  the  pension 
to  the  late  peshwa  was  not  continued  to  his  adopted  heir.  Certainly 
Nana  Sahib  had  little  injustice  of  which  to  complain.  Nan,  liter- 
ally grandmother,  is  a  term  of  endearment,  a  pet  name.  At  first 
the  Nana  was  profuse  in  his  professions  of  loyalty;  but  when  the 
sepoys  mutinied  at  Cawnpur  on  June  6  he  put  himself  at  their  head, 
and  was  proclaimed  peshwa  of  the  Marathas.  The  Europeans 
at  Cawnpur,  numbering  more  women  and  children  than  fighting 
men,  shut  themselves  up  in  an  ill-chosen  hasty  entrenchment,  where 
they  heroically  bore  a  siege  for  nineteen  days  under  the  sun  of  a 


SEPOYMUTINY  237 

1857 

tropical  June.  Everyone  had  courage  and  endurance  to  suffer 
or  to  die ;  but  the  directing  mind  was  again  absent.  On  June  27, 
trusting  to  a  safe  conduct  from  the  Nana — a  safe  conduct  supposed 
to  hold  good  as  far  as  Allahabad — they  surrendered;  and  to  the 
number  of  450  embarked  in  boats  on  the  Ganges.  A  murderous  fire 
was  opened  upon  them  from  the  river  bank.  Only  a  single  boat 
escaped;  and  four  men,  who  swam  across  to  the  protection  of 
a  friendly  raja,  survived  to  tell  the  tale.  The  rest  of  the  men  were 
massacred  on  the  spot.  The  women  and  children,  numbering  125, 
were  reserved  for  the  same  fate  on  July  15,  when  the  avenging 
army  of  Sir  Henry  Havelock  was  at  hand. 

Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  the  chief  commissioner  of  Oudh,  had 
foreseen  the  storm.  He  fortified  and  provisioned  the  residency  at 
Lucknow ;  and  thither  he  retired,  with  all  the  European  inhabitants 
and  a  weak  British  regiment,  on  July  2.  Two  days  later  he  was 
mortally  wounded  by  a  shell.  The  clear  head,  however,  was  here 
in  authority.  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  had  deliberately  chosen  his 
position;  and  the  little  garrison  held  out,  under  unparalleled  hard- 
ships and  against  enormous  odds,  until  relieved  by  Havelock  and 
Outram  on  September  25.  On  this  occasion  Outram  justified  his 
name  of  the  Bayard  of  India  by  serving  as  a  volunteer  under  Have- 
lock until  the  relief  of  Lucknow  had  taken  place,  though  he  was 
officially  Havelock's  senior  and  superior.  The  relieving  force  was 
itself  invested  by  fresh  swarms  of  rebels;  and  it  was  not  till  No- 
vember that  Sir  Colin  Campbell  cut  his  way  into  Lucknow,  and 
effected  the  final  deliverance  of  the  garrison  on  November  16, 
1857.  The  troops  then  withdrew  to  more  urgent  work,  and  did 
not  permanently  reoccupy  Lucknow  till  March,  1858.  Colin  Camp- 
bell was  born  at  Glasgow  on  October  20,  1792,  the  son  of  Colin 
Macliver.  He  was  by  mistake  commissioned  in  the  army  as  Colin 
Campbell  in  1807  and  retained  the  name  thus  bestowed.  He  served 
in  the  Peninsular  War  and  later  in  America,  China,  and  India.  He 
was  knighted  in  1849  an<^  served  in  the  Crimean  War.  He  was 
commander-in-chief  in  India  from  1857  to  i860,  and  was  created 
Baron  Clyde  in  1858.    He  died  on  August  14,  1863. 

The  siege  of  Delhi  began  on  June  8,  a  month  after  the  original 
outbreak  at  Meerut.  Siege  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word  it  was 
not;  for  the  British  army,  encamped  on  the  historic  "ridge"  of 
•Delhi,  never  exceeded  8000  men,  while  the  rebels  within  the  walls 
were  more  than  30,000  strong.    In  the  middle  of  August,  Nichol- 


238  INDIA 

1857 

son  arrived  with  a  reinforcement  from  the  Punjab;  his  own  in- 
spiring presence  was  perhaps  even  more  valuable  than  the  reinforce- 
ment he  brought.  On  September  14  the  assault  was  delivered,  and, 
after  six  days'  desperate  fighting  in  the  streets,  Delhi  was  again 
won.  Nicholson  fell  heroically  at  the  head  of  the  storming  party. 
Hodson,  the  daring  but  unscrupulous  leader  of  a  corps  of  irregu- 
lar horse,  hunted  down  next  day  the  old  Mogul  emperor,  Bahadur 
Shah,  and  his  sons.  The  emperor  was  afterward  sent  a  state 
prisoner  to  Rangoon,  where  he  .lived  till  1862.  As  the  mob  pressed 
in  on  the  guard  around  the  emperor's  sons,  near  Delhi,  Hodson 
thought  it  necessary  to  shoot  down  with  his  own  hand  the  princes 
who  had  been  captured  unconditionally.  William  Stephen  Raikes 
Hodson  was  born  on  March  19,  1821,  and  entered  the  Indian  army 
in  1845.  From  1852  to  1854  he  was  commander  of  the  Guides. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Mutiny  he  was  commissioned  to  raise  an 
irregular  regiment,  which  came  to  be  known  as  Hodson's  Horse. 
He  was  wounded  at  Lucknow  and  died  on  March  12,  1858.  Most 
writers  have  adopted  a  hostile  view  of  Hodson's  treatment  of  the 
Mogul  princes,  and  of  his  personal  character.1 

After  the  fall  of  Delhi  and  the  final  relief  of  Lucknow  the 
war  loses  its  dramatic  interest,  although  fighting  still  went  on  in 
various  parts  of  the  country  for  about  eighteen  months.  The 
population  of  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand,  stimulated  by  the  presence  of 
the  begam  of  Oudh,  the  nawab  of  Bareilly,  and  Nana  Sahib  him- 
self, had  joined  the  mutinous  sepoys  en  masse.  In  this  quarter  of 
India  alone,  it  was  the  revolt  of  a  people  rather  than  the  mutiny 
of  an  army  that  had  to  be  quelled.  Sir  Colin  Campbell  conducted 
the  campaign  in  Oudh,  which  lasted  through  two  cold  seasons. 
Valuable  assistance  was  lent  by  Sir  Jang  Bahadur,  the  ruling  min- 
ister in  Nepal  for  more  than  thirty  years,  at  the  head  of  his  gallant 
Gurkhas.  He  had  visited  England  and  was  a  thorough  believer  in 
England's  power.  Town  after  town  was  occupied,  fort  after  fort 
was  stormed,  until  the  last  gun  had  been  recaptured,  and  the  last 
fugitive  had  been  chased  across  the  frontier  by  January,  1859. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Sir  Hugh  Henry  Rose,  with  another  army 
from  Bombay,  was  conducting  an  equally  brilliant  campaign  in 
central  India.  This  British  officer  was  born  on  April  6,  1801,  at 
Berlin,  and  educated  there.     He  entered  the  English  army  in  1820 

1  For  a  favorable  account  of  him,  see  G.  H.  Hodson,  "Hodson  of  Hodson's 
Horse." 


»p  ^ 


2   £ 


SEPOY    MUTINY 

and  served  in  Syria,  with  the  embassy  at  Constantinople,  and  in 
the  Crimea.  He  became  a  major  general  in  1854  and  was  knighted 
in  1855.  He  went  to  India  in  1857,  where  he  was  commander-in- 
chief  of  Bombay  in  i860,  and  of  India  from  i860  to  1865.  He  was 
commander-in-chief  in  Ireland  from  1865  to  1870,  and  was  created 
Baron  Strathnairn  in  1866.  He  died  at  Paris  on  October  16,  1885. 
His  most  formidable  antagonists  in  central  India  were  the  disinher- 
ited rani  or  princess  of  Jhansi  and  Tantia  Topi,  whose  military 
talent  had  previously  inspired  Nana  Sahib  with  all  the  capacity  for 
resistance  that  he  ever  displayed.  The  rani  was  the  widow  of  the 
last  raja  of  Jhansi,  who  had  died  without  heirs  of  his  body  in  1853. 
The  rani  was  indignant  because  the  British  government  would 
not  allow  her  to  adopt  an  heir,  because  of  her  small  pension  from 
which  she  was  expected  to  pay  her  late  husband's  debts,  and  be- 
cause the  British  slaughtered  cattle  in  Jhansi  in  defiance  of  her 
religion.  Tantia  Topi  had  been  born  a  subject  of  the  peshwa  about 
1 8 12  and  was  the  devoted  servant  and  adviser  of  Nana  Sahib.  The 
princess  fell  fighting  bravely  at  the  head  of  her  troops  in  June,  1858. 
Tantia  Topi,  after  doubling  backward  and  forward  through  central 
India,  was  at  last  betrayed  and  run  down  in  April,  1859.  He  was 
executed  at  Sipri  on  April  18. 

The  Mutiny  sealed  the  fate  of  the  East  India  Company,  after 
a  life  of  more  than  two  and  a  half  centuries.  The  original  Com- 
pany received  its  charter  of  incorporation  from  Elizabeth  in  1600. 
Its  political  powers,  and  the  constitution  of  the  Indian  government, 
were  derived  from  the  Regulating  Act  of  1773,  passed  by  the 
ministry  of  Lord  North.  By  that  statute  the  governor  of  Bengal 
was  raised  to  the  rank  of  governor-general;  and,  in  conjunction 
with  his  council  of  four  members,  he  was  intrusted  with  the  duty 
of  controlling  the  governments  of  Madras  and  Bombay,  so  far  as 
regarded  questions  of  peace  and  war :  a  supreme  court  of  judicature 
was  appointed  at  Calcutta,  to  which  the  judges  were  nominated 
by  the  crown ;  and  a  power  of  making  rules  and  regulations  was 
conferred  upon  the  governor-general  and  his  council.  Next  came 
the  India  Act  of  Pitt,  in  1784,  which  founded  the  board  of  control 
in  England,  strengthened  the  supremacy  of  Bengal  over  the  other 
presidencies,  and  first  authorized  the  historic  phrase,  "  governor- 
general  in  council." 

The  charter  was  renewed  in  1781  and  1783,  but  the  renewed 
charter  of  181 3  abolished  the  Company's  monopoly  of  Indian  trade, 


240  INDIA 

1857 

and  compelled  it  to  direct  its  energies  to  the  good  government  of 
the  people.  The  Act  of  1833,  at  the  next  renewal  of  the  Company's 
charter  for  another  twenty  years,  did  away  with  its  remaining 
trade  to  China.  It  also  introduced  successive  reforms  into  the 
constitution  of  the  Indian  government.  It  added  to  the  council 
a  new  (legal)  member,  who  need  not  be  chosen  from  among  the 
Company's  servants,  and  who  was  at  first  entitled  to  be  present 
only  at  meetings  for  making  laws  and  regulations;  it  accorded 
the  authority  of  acts  of  parliament  to  the  laws  and  regulations  so 
made,  subject  to  the  disallowance  of  the  court  of  directors;  it 
appointed  a  law  commission ;  and  it  finally  gave  to  the  governor- 
general  in  council  a  control  over  the  other  presidencies,  in  all 
points  relating  to  the  civil  or  military  administration.  The  charter 
of  the  Company  was  renewed  for  the  last  time  in  1853,  not  for  a 
definite  period  of  years,  but  only  for  so  long  as  parliament  should 
see  fit.  On  this  occasion  the  number  of  directors  was  reduced,  and 
their  patronage  as  regards  appointments  to  the  civil  service  was 
taken  away,  to  make  room  for  the  principle  of  open  competition. 

The  Act  for  the  Better  Government  of  India,  which  finally 
transferred  the  administration  from  the  Company  to  the  crown,  was 
not  passed  without  an  eloquent  protest  from  the  directors,  nor 
without  bitter  party  discussions  in  parliament.  It  enacted  that 
India  shall  be  governed  by,  and  in  the  name  of,  the  ruler  of  Eng- 
land, through  one  of  his  principal  secretaries  of  state,  assisted  by 
a  council  of  fifteen  members.  The  governor-general  received  the 
new  title  of  viceroy.  The  European  troops  of  the  Company,  num- 
bering about  24,000  officers  and  men,  were  amalgamated  with  the 
royal  service,  and  the  Indian  navy  was  abolished.  By  the  Indian 
Councils  Act,  passed  August  1,  1861,  the  governor-general's  coun- 
cil, and  also  the  councils  at  Madras  and  Bombay,  were  augmented 
by  the  addition  of  non-official  members,  either  natives  or  Europeans, 
for  legislative  purposes  only.  This  act  has  been  amended  several 
times,  notably  on  June  20,  1892.  By  the  terms  of  the  act  of  1861, 
the  governor-general's  council  consisted  of  five  ordinary  members, 
three  with  official  experience  in  India,  one  law,  and  one  finance 
member.  The  commander-in-chief  is  an  extraordinary  member  of 
council.  In  1874  a  sixth  member  was  added  for  the  public  works 
department.  For  legislative  purposes  not  less  than  six  and  not 
more  than  twelve  members  were  added  to  the  council.  This  num- 
ber includes  some  distinguished  natives  and  representatives  of  the 


SEPOY     MUTINY  241 

1857 

legal  and  mercantile  classes  in  India.  The  act  also  authorized  the 
governor-general  to  make  rules  for  the  transaction  of  business 
in  the  council,  and  under  this  authority  Canning  placed  each  mem- 
ber in  charge  of  a  department,  and  in  minor  matters  that  member 
may  give  final  orders.  More  important  matters  he  refers  to  the 
governor-general,  and  if  they  agree  final  orders  may  issue,  but  if 
they  disagree  or  the  governor-general  so  wishes,  the  council  as  a 
body  is  consulted.  Technically  the  council  is  responsible  for  the 
acts  of  each  of  its  members.  Thus  the  council  has  been  practically 
transformed  into  a  cabinet  and  has  been  able  to  keep  abreast  of  its 
work  as  had  seldom  been  the  case  under  the  old  system,  which  re- 
quired the  whole  council  to  act  on  every  matter.  By  the  Indian 
High  Courts  Act  of  August  6,  1861,  high  courts  of  judicature  were 
constituted  out  of  the  old  supreme  courts  at  the  presidency  towns. 
There  was  also  passed  on  August  I,  1861,  the  Indian  Civil  Service 
Act. 


Chapter  XVI 


INDIA  UNDER  THE  BRITISH  CROWN 
1858-1910 

BOTH  the  suppression  of  the  Mutiny  and  the  introduction 
of  the  peaceful  revolution  which  followed  fell  to  the  lot  of 
I  Lord  Canning — "a  very  mirror  of  honor,  the  pattern  of  a 
just,  high-minded,  and  fearless  statesman,  kind  and  consider- 
ate   .    .    .    without  any  personal  bias  against  opponents." 

He  preserved  his  equanimity  unruffled  in  the  darkest  hours  of 
peril,  and  the  impartiality  of  his  conduct  incurred  alternate  praise 
and  blame  from  partisans  of  each  side.  The  epithet  then  scorn- 
fully applied  to  him,  of  "Clemency"  Canning,  is  now  remembered 
only  to  his  honor.  On  November  1,  1858,  at  a  grand  darbar  held  at 
Allahabad,  he  sent  forth  the  royal  proclamation  which  announced 
that  the  queen  had  assumed  the  government  of  India.  This  docu- 
ment, which  is,  in  the  truest  and  noblest  sense,  the  Great  Charter 
of  the  Indian  people,  declared  in  eloquent  words  the  principles  of 
justice  and  religious  toleration  as  the  guiding  policy  of  the  queen's 
rule.  It  also  granted  an  amnesty  to  all  except  those  who  had  di- 
rectly taken  part  in  the  murder  of  British  subjects.  Peace  was 
proclaimed  throughout  India  on  July  8,  1859.  With  the  ter- 
mination of  the  Company's  rule,  its  army  ceased  to  exist,  and  the 
forces  in  India  were  incorporated  as  an  integral  part  of  the  British 
army.  Henceforth  Europeans  could  no  longer  enlist  for  service 
in  India  only,  but  must  enlist  for  regular  general  service  in  the 
British  army.  Following  the  suppression  of  the  Mutiny  the  ex- 
traordinary military  establishment  was  reduced  to  a  peace  basis. 
The  character  of  the  army  was  greatly  altered  from  the  old  Com- 
pany's army,  for  in  1862  there  were  actually  in  India  76,000 
European  and  111,000  native  troops,  making  the  total  British  force 
in  India  187,000  men.  In  the  autumn  of  1859  Lord  Canning  made 
a  viceregal  progress  through  the  northern  provinces,  to  receive 
the  homage  of  loyal  princes  and  chiefs,  and  to  guarantee  to  them 
the  right  of  adoption.  In  i860  Lord  Canning  had  to  send  a  puni- 
tive expedition  into  the  little  Himalayan  state  of  Sikkim  on  the 

242 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  243 

1860-1861 

northern  border  of  Lower  Bengal.  A  treaty  of  April  16,  1861, 
established  peaceful  relations  with  Sikkim,  which  was  allowed  to 
maintain  its  independence,  subject  to  some  slight  supervision  by  the 
government  of  India.  The  importance  of  this  little  state  lies  in 
its  control  of  the  best  pass  from  Bengal  into  Tibet,  and  it  has 
accordingly  figured  prominently  in  all  the  questions  of  Indo-Tibetan 
relations.  India  was  also  called  upon  to  furnish  several  regiments 
of  Sikh  troops  to  serve  under  Sir  Hope  Grant  in  the  Second  China 
War  of  i860.  In  Burma  the  various  British  provinces  were 
formed  into  a  single  governmental  unit,  and  on  January  31,  1862, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Phayre  was  installed  as  the  first  chief  com- 
missioner of  British  Burma.  Arthur  Purves  Phayre  was  born 
in  18 12  and  entered  the  Bengal  army  in  1828.  After  serving  as 
commissioner  of  Arakan  and  of  Pegu,  he  was  chief  commissioner 
of  British  Burma  from  1862  to  1867.  He  was  knighted  in  1878 
and  died  in  1885. 

The  suppression  of  the  Mutiny  increased  the  debt  of  India  by 
about  forty  millions  sterling,  and  the  military  changes  which  en- 
sued augmented  the  annual  expenditure  by  about  ten  millions.  To 
grapple  with  this  deficit,  a  distinguished  political  economist  and 
parliamentary  financier,  the  Right  Honorable  James  Wilson,  was 
sent  out  from  England  as  financial  member  of  the  council.  He 
was  born  in  Scotland  on  June  3,  1805.  After  a  business  career  he 
entered  parliament  in  1847  and  occupied  various  posts  involving 
financial  duties.  In  his  budget  speech  of  February,  i860,  Wilson 
said :  "  For  perhaps  the  first  time  in  any  Asiatic  war,  Lord 
Canning  adopted,  throughout  the  whole  of  this  campaign  [the 
Mutiny],  the  most  scrupulous  principle  of  integrity.  Whatever 
service  was  performed,  whatever  provisions  were  supplied,  were 
strictly  paid  for."  He  reorganized  the  customs  system,  abolishing 
all  export  duties  and  lowering  the  import  duties.  He  imposed  a 
tax  on  all  incomes  of  more  than  200  rupees,  a  license  duty  of  one, 
four,  or  ten  rupees  upon  trades  and  professions,  and  an  internal 
revenue  tax  on  tobacco.  He  undertook  to  revise  the  business 
methods  of  the  government,  especially  in  the  military  department. 
He  created  a  paper  currency  commission  at  Calcutta,  corresponding 
with  the  department  of  issue  of  the  Bank  of  England,  with  branches 
at  Bombay  and  Madras,  authorized  to  issue  notes  ranging  in  value 
from  5  rupees  to  1000  rupees,  redeemable  in  silver.  He  died  in 
the  midst  of  his  splendid  task,  but  his  name  still  lives  as  that  of 


5244  INDIA 

1861-1862 

the  first  and  greatest  finance  minister  of  India.  His  successor 
as  finance  member  of  council  was  Samuel  Laing,  who  was  born  in 
1 8 12,  and  was  graduated  from  Cambridge  and  admitted  as  a  bar- 
rister of  Lincoln's  Inn  in  1837.  From  1842  onward  he  was  regu- 
larly interested  in  railroad  administration,  and  was  chairman  and 
managing  director  of  the  London,  Brighton,  and  South  Coast 
Railways  from  1848  to  1852,  and  from  1867  to  1894.  He  was  a 
member  of  parliament,  with  some  interruptions,  from  1852  to  1885, 
and  financial  member  of  the  governor-general's  council  from  Janu- 
ary, 1 86 1,  to  July,  1862.  His  year  of  service  is  notable  for  the 
promotion  of  railroad  construction,  for  his  endeavors  to  free  the 
poorest  classes  from  the  burden  of  taxation,  and  for  the  initiation 
of  the  policy  of  decentralization  in  taxation,  in  the  case  of  the  to- 
bacco tax.  The  Bengal  Tenancy  Act,  a  memorable  measure  which 
secured  the  land  rights  of  the  peasantry  of  Bengal,  was  passed 
under  Lord  Canning's  auspices  in  1859,  but  as  ^  had  failed  to  meet 
the  situation  fully  and  as  a  result  of  long  and  careful  investigation 
it  was  replaced  by  the  Bengal  Tenancy  Act  of  1885;  the  Penal 
Code,  originally  drawn  up  by  Macaulay  in  1837,  became  law  in 
i860;   with  Codes  of  Civil  and  Criminal  Procedure  in  1861. 

Lord  Canning  left  India  in  March,  1862,  and  died  before  he 
had  been  a  month  in  England.  His  successor  was  Lord  Elgin. 
James  Bruce  was  born  in  181 1,  and  educated  at  Eton  and  Oxford, 
where  he  was  a  student  of  Christ  Church  at  the  same  time  as 
Lord  Dalhousie,  Lord  Canning,  and  Gladstone.  He  succeeded  in 
1 84 1  as  eighth  earl  of  Elgin  and  twelfth  earl  of  Kincardine  in 
the  Scottish  peerage.  He  was  governor  of  Jamaica  from  1842  to 
1847,  and  the  governor-general  of  Canada  from  1847  to  I^54.  In 
1857  he  was  sent  as  envoy  to  China.  On  his  return  he  was  made 
postmaster-general,  but  from  i860  to  1861  he  was  again  sent  to 
China.  He  became  viceroy  and  governor-general  of  India  in  1862 
and  died  of  heart  trouble  at  the  Himalayan  station  of  Dharmsala 
on  November  20,  1863,  and  there  he  lies  buried.  Lord  Elgin 
abandoned  the  pompous  progress  of  the  earlier  governors-general 
in  traveling  and  went  by  train.  The  one  event  of  his  rule  was 
the  expedition  against  the  Wahabis,  a  group  of  turbulent  and 
fanatical  Mohammedans  in  the  northwest.  On  the  death  of  Lord 
Elgin,  Sir  Robert  Napier,  later  Lord  Napier  of  Magdala,  as  senior 
member  of  council,  succeeded  until  the.  arrival  of  Sir  William  Deni- 
son,  the  governor  of  Madras,  who  became  acting  governor-general 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  245 

1862-1869 

under  the  Act  of  1861.  William  Thomas  Denison  was  born  in 
1804  and  was  educated  at  Woolwich.  He  constructed  the  Rideau 
Canal  in  Canada  from  1827  to  1831,  and  was  employed  in  other 
engineering  works  until  he  was  appointed  lieutenant-governor  of 
Van  Diemen's  Land  (Tasmania)  in  1846.  He  opened  the  first 
representative  assembly  in  1852  and  was  transferred  to  the  gov- 
ernorship of  New  South  Wales  from  1854  to  1861,  where  he 
established  responsible  government  in  1855.  He  was  knighted  in 
1856,  and  was  governor  of  Madras  from  1861  to  1866,  serving 
as  acting  governor-general  from  December  2,  1863,  to  January 
12,  1864. 

Upon  the  death  of  Lord  Elgin  the  viceroyalty  was  immediately 
offered  to  Sir  John  Lawrence,  the  savior  of  the  Punjab,  who  at 
once  hastened  to  his  new  post.  Aside  from  such  incidents  as  the 
Bhutan  war  and  the  Orissa  famine,  the  viceroyalty  was  devoid 
of  important  events,  but  Lawrence's  rule  is  notable  for  two  things 
for  which  his  earlier  experience,  especially  in  the  Punjab,  admirably 
fitted  him:  the  effort  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  natives,  and 
the  handling  of  the  perplexing  question  of  the  northwest  frontier. 
-  After  a  careful  investigation  of  the  condition  of  the  peasant 
class  in  Oudh,  the  Oudh  Tenancy  Act  of  1868  was  passed,  com- 
pelling the  talukdars,  or  baronial  landlords,  to  respect  the  rights 
of  the  ryots,  or  peasant  tenants.  Similar  measures  were  carried 
into  effect  in  the  Northwestern  Provinces  and  in  the  Punjab,  where 
they  raised  much  less  discussion.  The  agrarian  situation  in  Bengal 
also  received  attention,  especially  from  the  courts.  The  law  mem- 
ber of  the  council  from  1862  to  1869  was  the  famous  legal  scholar, 
Henry  James  Sumner  Maine.  He  was  born  in  1822,  knighted  in 
1 87 1,  and  died  in  1888. 

Plans  for  various  internal  improvements  received  a  great  im- 
petus from  the  inability  of  the  government  to  deal  with  the  famine 
situation  in  Orissa  in  1866,  which  resulted  in  a  frightful  loss  of 
life,  so  that,  in  a  later  famine  in  Bundelkhand  and  Upper  Hindu- 
stan in  1 868- 1 869,  Lord  Lawrence  laid  down  the  principle,  for  the 
first  time  in  Indian  history,  that  the  officers  of  the  government  would 
be  held  personally  responsible  for  taking  every  possible  means  to 
avert  death  by  starvation.  Lawrence's  administration  also  estab- 
lished the  rule  that  all  future  railroads  and  irrigation  works  should 
be  constructed  by  the  ruling  power,  and  that  such  permanent  im- 
provements should  be  paid  for  by  loans,  and  that  only  the  annual 


246  INDIA 

1863-1869 

charges  for  them  should  be  paid  from  the  revenue.  The  changed 
conditions  since  the  Mutiny,  and  the  large  increase  in  the  number 
of  Europeans  in  the  army  in  India,  made  necessary  the  erection  of 
extensive  barracks  with  all  the  modern  improvements  in  order 
to  preserve  the  health  of  the  army.  Other  forms  of  sanitary  work 
were  also  carried  out.  The  work  of  forest  administration  was 
taken  up  by  the  imperial  government.  Of  wider  import,  however, 
was  the  extension  of  the  railroad  and  irrigation  systems.  The 
famine  in  Orissa  owed  its  great  severity  to  the  absence  of  rail- 
roads and  even  of  passable  carriage  roads  through  the  province. 
The  seacoast  of  Orissa  is  at  best  difficult  of  access,  and  during  the 
monsoons  it  was  almost  impossible  for  a  vessel  to  discharge  its 
cargo  on  the  coast,  so  that  at  Puri  it  took  one  steamer  seven  weeks 
to  unload.  Public  works  were  begun,  but  the  famine  victims 
could  not  be  paid  in  food,  but  only  in  money,  so  that  the  works 
were  soon  suspended.  The  famine  was  followed  by  devastating 
floods.  The  terrible  character  of  the  Orissa  disasters  led  at  once 
to  a  burst  of  activity  in  the  construction  of  railroads,  roads,  irri- 
gation works,  and  other  internal  improvements.  In  this  work  Law- 
rence received  valuable  assistance  from  the  able  and  experienced 
engineer  officer,  Richard  Strachey.  This  man  was  born  in  1817 
and  entered  the  Bengal  Engineers  in  1836.  After  serving  in 
various  posts  as  an  engineer  he  became  secretary  to  the  govern- 
ment of  India  for  the  department  of  public  works  from  1862  to 
1866,  and  inspector  general  of  irrigation  from  1866  to  1871.  He 
was  member  of  the  council  of  India  from  1875  to  1878,  and  from 
1879  to  1889,  and  temporary  member  of  the  governor-general's 
council  from  1878  to  1879.  Since  1889  ne  nas  been  chairman  of 
the  East  Indian  Railways  Company.  He  was  knighted  in  1897. 
In  regard  to  the  financial  and  commercial  situation  under 
Lawrence's  rule,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  distress  in  England, 
due  to  the  closing  of  the  mills,  was  at  its  height  when  Lawrence 
entered  office.  The  American  Civil  War  had  made  India  the  sole 
available  source  of  cotton  supply,  and  the  price  had  run  up  from 
44/.  a  ton  in  i860  to  189/.  in  1864.  Wild  speculation  followed, 
notably  in  Bombay,  ending  in  a  financial  crash  as  soon  as  the 
American  war  closed.  This  commercial  crisis  of  1866  also  threat- 
ened the  young  tea  industry  in  Bengal.  The  reorganization  of  the 
civil  service  following  the  transfer  of  India  to  the  crown  was  com- 
pleted under  Lawrence,  and  the  salaries  raised  to  a  uniform  stand- 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  247 

1863-1869 

ard.  This  period  was  also  marked  by  the  beginning  of  the  deprecia- 
tion of  silver  and  the  development  of  the  money  question.  All  of 
these  things  contributed  to  an  increase  in  the  national  expenditure, 
with  no  compensating  increase  in  the  income  of  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment, so  that  the  five  years  of  Lawrence's  rule  showed  a  net 
deficit  of  2,500,000/.,  in  spite  of  the  utmost  efforts  for  frugality 
and  economy.  The  finance  member  of  the  governor-general's  coun- 
cil from  1863  to  1865  was  Charles  Edward  Trevelyan,  who  was 
born  in  1807  and  entered  the  Bengal  civil  service  in  1826.  He 
was  knighted  in  1848,  introduced  the  new  Indian  civil  service 
system  in  1853,  was  governor  of  Madras  in  1859-1860,  and  died 
in  1886.  He  was  the  brother-in-law  of  Lord  Macaulay.  He  was 
succeeded  as  finance  member  of  council  by  William  Nathaniel 
Massey,  from  1865  to  1868.  Massey  was  born  in  1809  and  died  in 
1 88 1.  He  was  long  a  member  of  parliament,  and  wrote  a  history 
of  the  reign  of  George  III. 

Along  the  northern  frontier  of  Lower  Bengal  stretches  the 
independent  Himalayan  state  of  Bhutan,  with  which  Lawrence  had 
to  carry  on  his  only  war.  This  involved  only  a  few  skirmishes 
and  was  terminated  by  a  treaty  on  November  11,  1865.  This 
treaty  provided  that  Bhutan  should  cede  the  dwars,  or  passes,  be- 
tween Bengal  and  Assam  and  Bhutan.  The  remainder  of  Bhutan 
was  allowed  to  maintain  its  independence  subject  to  certain  treaty 
guarantees,  which  assured  the  government  of  India  of  the  peace- 
ful behavior  of  the  restless  tribesmen. 

Of  more  serious  character  was  the  situation  on  the  Afghan 
frontier.  On  the  death  of  Dost  Mohammed,  on  June  9,  1863, 
Sher  Ali,  the  third  son  and  acknowledged  heir  of  the  Dost,  was 
recognized  as  amir  of  Afghanistan  by  Lawrence,  and  his  son,  Mo- 
hammed Ali,  as  heir  apparent.  Then  followed  a  long  civil  war  in 
which  the  two  older  sons  of  the  Dost,  Afzal  and  Azum,  obtained 
possession  of  most  of  Afghanistan,  and  were  partially  recognized 
as  de  facto  rulers  by  Lawrence,  who  at  the  same  time  refused  to 
withdraw  his  recognition  from  Sher  Ali.  The  latter  soon  won  his 
way  back  to  power,  and  in  1869  was  able  to  notify  Lawrence  that 
he  was  once  more  in  complete  control.  Lawrence's  policy  had 
been  "  that  we  will  leave  the  Afghans  to  settle  their  own  quarrels, 
and  that  we  are  willing  to  be  on  terms  of  amity  and  good-will 
with  the  nation  and  with  their  rulers  de  facto."  It  was  at  this 
same  time  that  the  Russian  advance  into  central  Asia,  which  fol- 


248  INDIA 

1868-1869 

lowed  the  Crimean  War,  became  a  cause  for  alarm.  Envoys  from 
Khokand  and  Bokhara  visited  Lawrence,  but  the  independence 
of  their  states  was  destroyed,  and  finally  Lawrence  urged  upon 
the  home  government  "  that  it  [Russia]  might  be  given  to  under- 
stand in  firm  but  courteous  language  that  it  cannot  be  permitted 
to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  Afghanistan,  or  in  those  of  any  state 
which  lies  contiguous  to  our  frontier."  Lawrence  opposed  the 
"  forward  movement  "  to  establish  a  scientific,  defensible  northwest- 
ern frontier,  but  preferred  to  maintain  the  line  of  the  Indus  as  the 
actual  frontier,  and  to  develop  and  preserve  friendly  relations,  not 
only  with  the  Afghans  and  the  Baluchis,  but  also  with  the  various 
hill  tribes,  but  not  to  absorb  them  into  the  Indian  empire.  Colonel 
Henry  Marion  Durand,  who  was  military  member  of  the  governor- 
general's  council  from  1865  to  1870,  in  succession  to  Sir  Robert 
Napier,  was  an  expert  on  the  northwest  frontier  question,  having 
served  in  the  Afghan  and  Sikh  wars.  He  closed  his  career  as 
lieutenant-governor  of  the  Punjab  from  1870  to  1871. 

In  1868  England  found  it  necessary  to  send  an  expedition  into 
Abyssinia  and  intrusted  the  conduct  of  it  to  the  commander-in- 
chief  in  Bombay,  who  was  rewarded  for  his  success  with  the  title 
of  Lord  Napier  of  Magdala. 

Sir  John  Lawrence  retired  in  January,  1869,  after  having 
passed  through  every  grade  of  Indian  service,  from  an  assistant 
magistracy  to  the  viceroyalty.  On  his  return  to  England  he  was 
raised  to  the  peerage.  He  died  in  1879,  and  lies  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 

Lord  Mayo  succeeded  Lord  Lawrence  in  1869,  and  urged  on 
the  material  progress  of  India.  Richard  Southwell  Bourke  was 
born  in  Dublin  on  February  21,  1822.  He  entered  parliament 
in  1847  and  succeeded  as  sixth  earl  of  Mayo  in  the  Irish  peerage 
in  1867.  Under  his  courtesy  title  of  Lord  Naas  he  was  thrice 
chief  secretary  for  Ireland,  in  1852,  1858-1859,  and  1866-1868. 

The  Ambala  darbar  in  1869,  at  which  Sher  Ali  was  formally 
recognized  as  amir  of  Afghanistan,  although  in  one  sense  the 
completion  of  what  Lord  Lawrence  had  begun,  owed  its  brilliant 
success  to  Lord  Mayo.  In  his  foreign  policy  Lord  Mayo  sought, 
with  substantial  success,  to  secure  the  recognition  by  Russia  of 
the  boundaries  of  Afghanistan.  He  also  mediated  in  Baluchistan 
to  establish  internal  order  and  to  have. the  Persian  boundary  ques- 
tion settled.     To  the  northward  Eastern  Turkestan  was  for  the 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN 

1869-1870 

moment  independent  under  a  Mohammedan  soldier  of  fortune, 
Yakub,  who  sought  recognition  from  the  government  of  India. 
Douglas  Forsyth,  who  had  served  in  the  Punjab  under  Lawrence, 
was  sent  by  Lord  Mayo  to  visit  him  at  Yarkand,  but  nothing 
came  of  it,  and  the  Chinese  soon  afterward  restored  their  authority. 
On  the  eastern  frontier  of  Bengal  the  tribesmen  of  the  Lushai 
Hills  became  so  troublesome  that  Lord  Mayo  resolved  to  give  them 
a  lesson  in  good  behavior,  and  under  the  direction  of  Lord  Napier 
of  Magdala  the  Lushai  expedition  established  order  and  security 
upon  that  frontier.  Briefly  stated,  Mayo's  foreign  policy  was  a 
development  of  Lawrence's  nonintervention  doctrine.  He  sought 
to  surround  India  with  a  circle  of  independent  friendly  states  which 
should  form  a  buffer  against  such  an  empire  as  Russia. 

In  his  relations  with  the  feudatory  states  he  insisted  that  the 
native  princes  should  not  be  guilty  of  misgovernment.  The  worst 
case  with  which  he  had  to  deal  was  the  maharaja  of  Alwar,  whom 
he  forced  to  accept  a  native  council  guided  by  the  British  political 
agent.  Mayo  encouraged  the  native  rulers  in  enlightened  gov- 
ernment and  sought  to  develop  an  esprit  de  corps  to  that  end  by  the 
education  of  the  heirs  to  the  native  principalities.  For  this  purpose 
he  planned  Mayo  College  at  Ajmere,  which  was  opened  in  1875 
for  the  education  of  young  Rajput  princes.  The  visit  of  His  Royal 
Highness,  Alfred  Ernest  Albert,  the  duke  of  Edinburgh,  in  1869- 
1870,  gave  deep  pleasure  to  the  natives  of  India,  and  introduced 
a  tone  of  personal  loyalty  into  the  relations  with  the  feudatory 
princes. 

Some  of  Lord  Mayo's  most  important  work  was  done  in  con- 
nection with  the  finances,  which  were  in  a  serious  condition.  The 
annual  deficits  for  the  three  years  preceding  the  arrival  of  Lord 
Mayo  made  a  total  equivalent  to  about  $28,000,000.  During  his 
first  year  he  secured  a  slight  surplus,  and  during  the  next  three 
years  piled  up  a  surplus  aggregating  more  than  $28,000,000.  In 
doing  this  both  revenue  and  expenditure  were  reduced.  Economy 
was  rigidly  enforced  in  every  department,  estimates  were  scaled 
down  and  every  item  carefully  scrutinized,  and  public  works  involv- 
ing outlays  were  carefully  supervised.  With  the  assistance  of  the 
brothers,  Richard  and  John  Strachey,  he  carried  into  effect  the 
plan  of  decentralization  in  the  financial  administration  which  had 
been  suggested  by  Mr.  Laing  a  decade  earlier.  The  impulse  to 
local  self-government,  given  by  the  last  measure,  has  done  much, 


250  INDIA 

1870-1872 

and  will  do  more,  to  develop  and  husband  the  revenues  of  India,  to 
quicken  the  sense  of  responsibility  among  the  British  administra- 
tors, and  to  awaken  political  life  among  the  people.  Lord  Mayo 
also  laid  the  foundation  for  the  reform  of  the  salt  duties.  He  thus 
enabled  his  successors  to  abolish  the  old  pernicious  customs-lines 
which  had  for  long  walled  off  province  from  province,  and  stran- 
gled the  trade  between  British  India  and  the  feudatory  states.  In 
order  to  secure  permanent  improvement  in  the  finances,  great  pains 
were  taken  to  secure  and  to  collate  statistics  regarding  the  popula- 
tion and  the  various  conditions  in  each  locality,  for  only  with  exact 
knowledge  in  these  matters  could  both  revenue  and  expenditure 
be  wisely  regulated.  The  first  census  of  all  India  which  was  taken 
by  his  orders  showed  the  population  of  Bengal  alone  to  be  26,000,- 
000  larger  than  was  estimated.  Mayo  organized  the  Statistical 
Survey  of  India,  which,  under  the  direction  of  William  Wilson 
Hunter,  "  produced  a  printed  account  of  each  district,  town,  and 
village,  carefully  compiled  upon  local  inquiry,  and  disclosing  the 
whole  economic  and  social  facts  in  the  life  of  the  people."  This 
Survey  is  of  the  same  type  as  the  English  Domesday  Book,  and  of 
the  Ain-i-Akfari  of  the  Mogul  empire,  but  it  embraces  a  far 
greater  area,  an  enormously  larger  population,  and  is  much  broader 
in  its  scope.  It  is  without  doubt  the  greatest  work  of  the  kind 
ever  accomplished. 

In  his  military  policy  Lord  Mayo  insisted  upon  the  largest 
economy  consistent  with  the  highest  efficiency.  He  insisted  on  the 
introduction  of  the  most  improved  rifle,  the  Snider,  and  of  rifled 
guns  for  the  artillery,  and  the  provision  of  thoroughly  sanitary  con- 
ditions for  the  troops,  but  he  succeeded  in  effecting  a  substantial 
reduction  in  the  military  budget.  He  developed  the  material  re- 
sources of  the  country  by  an  immense  extension  of  roads,  railroads, 
and  canals.  He  carried  out  the  beneficent  system  of  public  works 
which  Lord  Dalhousie  had  inaugurated.  In  the  construction  of 
public  works  he  saw  the  evils  of  haste,  of  lack  of  supervision, 
and  lack  of  personal  management,  but  with  the  aid  of  Richard 
Strachey  he  remedied  these  conditions.  He  refused  to  make  loans 
for  any  public  works  except  those  that  would  be  productive.  He 
carried  out  the  policy  of  state  control  of  public  works  in  the 
promotion  of  the  various  enterprises  of  railroad  and  canal  con- 
struction. He  took  a  keen  interest  in  the  extension  of  educational 
facilities  to  the  masses,  as  well  as  to  the  upper  classes.    He  insisted 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  251 

186J-1872 

upon  a  thorough  system  of  prison  reform,  especially  at  the  convict 
settlement  of  the  Andaman  Islands,  where  he  sent  General  Donald 
Martin  Stewart  as  manager.  The  most  important  legal  reform 
was  the  passage  of  the  Indian  Evidence  Act  in  1872,  which  had 
been  drafted  by  the  law  member  of  council,  James  Fitzjames 
Stephen.  This  man  was  the  son  of  Sir  James  Stephen  and  was 
born  in  1829.  He  succeeded  his  friend,  Sir  Henry  Maine,  as  legal 
member  of  the  governor-general's  council  from  1869  to  1872. 
He  was  knighted  in  1877  and  served  as  judge  of  the  high  court 
of  judicature  in  England  from  1879  to  J89i.  He  died  in  1894. 
Mayo  was  fortunate  in  being  surrounded  by  a  group  of  ex- 
perienced and  able  councilors  and  local  administrators.  In  addi- 
tion to  Stephen  in  the  law  department  and  John  Strachey  in 
the  newly  organized  department  of  revenue,  agriculture,  and  com- 
merce, he  had  Sir  Richard  Temple  in  charge  of  the  finances,  Major 
General  Henry  Wylie  Norman  in  the  military  department,  and  Ellis 
in  the  home  department.  Richard  Temple  was  born  in  1826  and 
entered  the  Indian  civil  service  in  1848.  After  serving  with  Law- 
rence in  the  Punjab,  he  was  chief  commissioner  of  the  Central 
Provinces  from  1864  to  1867,  resident  at  Haiderabad,  foreign  sec- 
retary to  the  government  of  India,  finance  member  of  council  from 
1868  to  1874,  lieutenant-governor  of  Bengal  from  1874  to  1877, 
and  governor  of  Bombay  from  1877  to  1880.  He  was  knighted 
in  1867  and  made  a  baronet  in  1876.  He  was  member  of  parliament 
from  1885  to  1895  and  died  in  1902.  Henry  Wylie  Norman  was 
born  in  London  in  1826  and  entered  the  Bengal  infantry  in  1844. 
He  served  in  the  Sikh  wars,  in  the  Punjab,  in  the  Mutiny,  and 
as  military  secretary  to  the  government  of  India.  He  was  military 
member  of  the  governor-general's  council  from  1870  to  1877,  and 
member  of  the  council  of  India  from  1878  to  1883.  He  was  gov- 
ernor of  Jamaica  from  1883  to  1889  and  of  Queensland  from  1889 
to  1896,  but  declined  the  offer  of  the  viceroyalty  of  India  in  suc- 
cession to  Lord  Lansdowne.  He  was  chairman  of  the  West 
India  Royal  Commission  in  1897  and  a  member  of  the  Royal  Com- 
mission on  the  South  African  War.  He  was  knighted  in  1873  and 
died  in  1904.  Barrow  Helbert  Ellis  was  born  in  1823  and  served 
in  various  posts  in  the  Bombay  civil  service,  and  from  1869  to  1875 
was  member  of  the  governor-general's  council  for  the  home  de- 
partment, and  member  of  the  council  of  India  from  1875  to  1885. 
He  was  knighted  in  1875  and  died  in  1887. 


252  INDIA 

1869--»872 

Among  the  administrators  were  Lord  Napier  of  Merchistoun 
at  Madras,  Sir  Vesey  Fitzgerald  at  Bombay,  Grey  and  Campbell 
in  Bengal,  Sir  William  Muir  in  the  Northwestern  Provinces,  Sir 
Henry  Marion  Durand  and  Robert  Henry  Davies  in  the  Punjab, 
and  John  Henry  Morris  in  the  Central  Provinces.  Francis  Napier 
was  born  in  1819  and  succeeded  as  ninth  Baron  Napier  in  the 
Scottish  peerage  in  1834.  He  entered  the  diplomatic  service  in 
1840  and  was  minister  at  Washington  from  1857  to  1859,  and 
ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg  from  i860  to  1864,  and  at  Berlin 
from  1864  to  1866.  He  was  governor  of  Madras  from  1866  to 
1872,  when  he  became  acting  governor-general  until  the  arrival 
of  Lord  Northbrook.  On  his  return  to  England  in  1872  he  was 
created  Baron  Ettrick  of  Ettrick  in  the  peerage  of  the  United 
Kingdom.  He  died  in  1898.  William  Robert  Seymour  Vesey 
Fitzgerald  was  born  in  181 8  and  served  in  parliament  for  many 
years.  He  was  governor  of  Bombay  from  1867  to  1872.  He  was 
knighted  in  1867  and  died  in  1885.  William  Grey  was  born  in 
1 8 18  and  had  held  several  important  posts  in  the  Indian  civil  serv- 
ice prior  to  becoming  a  member  of  the  governor-general's  council 
from  1862  to  1867.  He  was  lieutenant-governor  of  Bengal  from 
1867  to  1 87 1,  and  governor  of  Jamaica  from  1874  to  1877.  He 
was  knighted  in  1870  and  died  in  1878.  George  Campbell  was  born 
in  1824  and  entered  the  Indian  civil  service  in  1842.  His  career 
had  already  been  a  notable  one  when  he  became  chief  commissioner 
of  the  Central  Provinces  from  1867  to  1868,  and  lieutenant-governor 
of  Bengal  from  1871  to  1874.  He  was  knighted  in  1873,  and 
served  in  parliament  from  1875  till  his  death  in  1892.  William 
Muir  was  born  in  1819  and  entered  the  Bengal  civil  service  in  1837. 
He  was  knighted  in  1867  and  was  lieutenant-governor  of  the  North- 
western Provinces  from  1868  to  1874.  He  was  finance  member  of 
the  governor-general's  council  from  1874  to  1876,  and  member  of 
the  council  of  India  from  1876  to  1885.  He  was  principal  and 
vice  chancellor  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh  from  1885  to  1902, 
and  was  the  author  of  several  works  on  Mohammedan  history.  He 
died  in  1905.  Robert  Henry  Davies  was  born  in  1824  and  was 
knighted  in  1874.  He  was  chief  commissioner  of  Oudh  from  1865 
to  1866  and  from  1867  to  1871,  and  lieutenant-governor  of  the 
Punjab  from  1871  to  1877.  He  was  member  of  the  council  of 
India  from  1885  to  1895  and  died  in  .1902.  John  Henry  Morris 
was  born  in  1828  and  went  to  India  in  1848.     He  was  chief  com- 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  253 

1872-1876 

missioner  of  the  Central  Provinces  with  brief  interruptions  from 
1867  to  1883.     He  was  knighted  in  1883. 

Lord  Mayo's  splendid  vigor  defied  alike  the  climate  and  the 
vast  tasks  which  he  imposed  on  himself.  He  anxiously  and  labor- 
iously studied  with  his  own  eyes  the  wants  of  the  farthest  provinces 
of  the  empire,  but  his  life  of  noble  usefulness  was  cut  short  by 
the  hand  of  an  assassin  while  he  was  inspecting  the  conditions 
in  the  convict  settlement  of  the  Andaman  Islands  in  1872.  Mr. 
John  Strachey,  the  senior  member  of  council  present,  temporarily 
assumed  the  duties  of  governor-general  until  the  arrival  of  the 
governor  of  Madras,  Lord  Napier  of  Merchistoun,  who  was  acting 
governor-general  until  the  arrival  of  the  new  viceroy,  Lord  North- 
brook,  in  May,  1872.  Thomas  George  Baring  was  born  January 
22,  1826,  and  succeeded  his  father  in  1866  as  Baron  Northbrook. 
He  was  a  lord  of  the  admiralty  from  1857  to  1858,  under  secretary 
of  state  for  India  from  1859  to  1864,  for  the  home  department  from 
1864  to  1866,  and  for  war  from  1868  to  1872.  Belonging  to  the 
great  financial  family  of  the  Barings  it  was  natural  that  Lord 
Northbrook  should  give  much  attention  to  the  department  of 
finance.  He  carried  forward  the  policy  of  Lord  Mayo,  but  the 
Bengal  famine  in  1874  necessitated  enormous  extraordinary  ex- 
penditures which  once  more  produced  a  deficit.  The  conduct  of 
the  famine  relief  was  so  efficient  that,  for  the  first  time,  the  rate 
of  mortality  in  the  region  of  scarcity  was  not  increased.  The  in- 
come tax  was  abolished  as  unsuited  to  India,  and  the  export  duties 
were  also  repealed.  The  Maratha  Gaekwar  of  Baroda  was  de- 
throned in  1875  f°r  misgovernment,  and  for  his  attempt  to  poison 
the  British  resident  at  his  court.  The  Gaekwar  was  tried  by  a  mixed 
commission  of  native  princes  and  Europeans,  which  failed  to  give 
a  decisive  verdict.  The  case  was  then  referred  to  the  home  govern- 
ment, and  the  marquis  of  Salisbury,  then  secretary  of  state  for 
India,  ordered  the  deposition  of  the  Gaekwar  on  the  old  charge  of 
misgovernment,  disregarding  the  poisoning  charge  on  which  he  had 
been  tried.     His  dominions  were  continued  to  a  child  of  his  race. 

The  prince  of  Wales,  now  King  Edward  VII.,  made  a  tour 
through  the  country  in  the  cold  weather  of  1875- 1876.  He  was  ac- 
companied during  his  visit  to  India  by  Sir  Bartle  Frere  (1815-1894), 
who  had  had  a  brilliant  career  as  an  Indian  administrator,  and  who 
was  later  the  first  high  commissioner  for  South  Africa.  The  presence 
of  His  Royal  Highness  evoked  a  passionate  burst  of  loyalty  never 


254  INDIA 

1876-1877 

before  known  in  the  annals  of  British  India.  The  feudatory  chiefs 
and  ruling"  houses  of  India  felt  for  the  first  time  that  they  were 
incorporated  into  the  empire  of  an  ancient  and  a  splendid  dynasty. 
Lord  Northbrook  resigned  in  1876,  because  of  his  unwillingness 
to  abandon  the  Afghan  policy  of  Lawrence  and  Mayo  for  the 
imperialistic  policy  of  the  new  English  prime  minister,  Disraeli. 

The  period  from  the  Mutiny  to  the  beginning  of  Lord  Lytton's 
administration  was  a  period  of  reorganization  and  readjustment. 
Though  the  work  was  done  by  conservative  men  upon  conserva- 
tive lines,  the  two  decades  show  vast  changes.  In  1856-1857  the 
revenue  was  23,270,000/.  and  the  expenditures  23,413,000/.,  leaving 
a  deficit  of  143,000/.  In  1876-1877  the  revenue  had  risen  to  55,- 
995,000/.  and  the  expenditures  to  58,178,000/.,  leaving  a  deficit 
of  2,183,000/.  The  debt  on  April  30,  1857,  was  50,483,000/.  and 
on  March  31,  1877,  J 3^,93 5, 000/.  In  1856  the  maritime  commerce 
of  India  was  valued  at  25,245,000/.  for  imports  and  23,640,000/. 
for  exports.  In  1876- 1877  the  imports  were  48,864,000/.  and  the 
exports  65,044,000/.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Mutiny  the  army  in 
India  numbered  45,522  Europeans  and  232,224  natives,  in  1876- 
1877  there  were  64,902  Europeans  and  125,246  natives.  In  1857 
the  length  of  railroads  in  operation  was  274  miles;  in  1877  it  was 
6937  miles.  In  1857  there  were  4162  miles  of  telegraph  lines  and 
in  1876  there  were  16,649  miles.  The  number  of  pieces  of  mail 
had  increased  from  29,000,000  annually  to  120,000,000.  During 
the  period  new  industries  of  importance,  such  as  tea-growing  and 
cotton  manufacturing,  had  been  developed.  The  two  following 
administrations  were  ones  of  intense  political  activity,  Lord  Lyt- 
ton's in  foreign  affairs,  and  Lord  Ripon's  in  internal  administra- 
tion; but  the  succeeding  administrations  have  reverted  to  more 
conservative  policies,  and  have  avoided  arousing  such  violent  oppo- 
sition to  their  measures,  either  in  India  or  in  England. 

Lord  Lytton  followed  Lord  Northbrook  in  1876.  Edward 
Robert  Bulwer  Lytton  was  born  in  London  on  November  8,  1831. 
He  went  to  Washington  in  1849  as  secretary  to  his  uncle,  Sir 
Henry  Bulwer,  and  later  accompanied  him  to  Florence.  After 
serving  at  various  European  courts  he  became  minister  at  Lisbon 
in  1874,  having  in  the  previous  year  succeeded  his  father,  the 
novelist,  as  Baron  Lytton. 

On  January  1,  1877,  Queen  Victoria  was  proclaimed  empress 
of  India  at  a  darbar  of  unparalleled  magnificence,  held  on  the  his- 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  255 

1877-1878 

toric  ridge  overlooking  the  ancient  Mogul  capital  of  Delhi.  The 
Royal  Titles  Act  of  April  27,  1876,  was  one  of  Disraeli's  famous 
imperialistic  measures.  The  act  was  passed  with  the  understanding 
that  the  imperial  title  should  be  used  only  in  India.  The  queen  be- 
gan to  use  it  in  her  signature  in  1878  and  in  1893  it  appeared 
on  the  British  coins.  The  title  empress  of  India  was  officially 
translated  as  Kaisar-i-Hind.  At  the  darbar  in  1877  the  "  Most 
Eminent  Order  of  the  Indian  Empire  "  was  created.  While  the 
princes  and  high  officials  of  the  country  were  flocking  to  this  gor- 
geous scene,  the  shadow  of  famine  was  darkening  over  southern 
India.  The  monsoons  of  1876  had  failed  to  bring  their  due  supply 
of  rain,  and  the  season  of  1877  was  little  better.  This  long-con- 
tinued drought  stretched  from  the  Deccan  to  Cape  Comorin,  and 
subsequently  invaded  northern  India,  causing  a  famine  more  wide- 
spread than  any  previously  known  in  Indian  history.  Despite  vast 
importations  of  grain  by  sea  and  rail,  despite  the  most  strenuous 
exertions  of  the  government,  which  incurred  a  total  expenditure 
on  this  account  of  11  millions  sterling,  the  loss  of  life  from  actual 
starvation  and  its  attendant  train  of  diseases  was  lamentable.  The 
deaths  from  want  of  food,  and  from  the  diseases  incident  to  a 
famine-stricken  population,  were  estimated  at  five  and  one-fourth 
millions. 

The  famine  relief  administration  was  in  charge  of  Sir  Richard 
Temple,  who  was  unfortunately  under  orders  to  enforce  a  most 
rigid  economy  in  his  work,  so  that  the  liberal  measures  and  the 
complete  success  of  the  relief  work  in  Bengal  a  few  years  earlier 
were  impossible.  It  was  under  Lord  Lytton  that  the  government 
first  adapted  its  system  of  finances  and  public  works  to  the  policy 
of  famine  insurance.  A  famine  commission  under  the  presidency 
of  Richard  Strachey  was  appointed  to  make  a  full  study  of  the  whole 
question  of  famine  insurance  and  famine  relief,  and  it  outlined  the 
policy  which  in  the  main  has  been  followed  by  later  administrations. 
Another  terrible  disaster  also  occurred  during  Lord  Lytton's  ad- 
ministration. On  October  31,  1876,  a  tidal  wave  flooded  3000 
square  miles  of  the  Ganges  delta  and  swept  away  many  thousands 
of  the  population. 

Before  turning  from  the  internal  disasters  of  Lord  Lytton's 
viceroyalty  to  discuss  his  disastrous  foreign  policy  a  few  events 
of  interest  may  be  noted.  The  island  of  Socotra  in  the  Gulf  of 
Aden  was  occupied  in  1878.     In  the  same  year  was  enacted  the 


256  INDIA 

1878-1879 

Vernacular  Press  Act  intended  to  suppress  the  virulent  criticism 
of  the  government.  The  civil  service  regulations  were  modified 
in  order  to  improve  the  opportunities  for  advancement  for  the  na- 
tives. The  Deccan  Agricultural  Relief  Act  was  passed  in  1880  to 
prevent  the  exploitation  of  the  peasants  by  unscrupulous  money 
lenders.  The  closing  days  of  Lord  Lytton's  administration  were 
troubled  by  the  discovery  of  serious  discrepancies  in  the  financial  ac- 
counts, which  were  ultimately  proved  to  be  due  to  careless  bookkeep- 
ing methods  in  connection  with  the  military  expeditions.  Owing  to 
these  blunders,  there  was  a  large  deficit  of  which  the  government 
had  not  been  aware.  In  1877  Lord  Lytton  opened  the  Moham- 
medan Anglo-Oriental  College  at  Aligarh,  founded  by  Sayyid 
Ammad  Khan  Bahadur,  a  famous  Mohammedan  reformer,  who 
endeavored  to  bring  his  co-religionists  into  touch  with  contemporary 
culture  and  life.  Bahadur  was  knighted  in  1888  and  died  in 
1898. 

In  the  autumn  of  1878  the  affairs  of  Afghanistan  again  forced 
themselves  into  notice.  Sher  Ali,  the  amir  who  had  been  hospitably 
entertained  by  Lord  Mayo,  was  found  to  be  favoring  Russian  in- 
trigues. A  British  envoy  was  refused  admittance  to  the  country, 
while  a  Russian  mission  was  received  with  honor.  This  led  to 
a  declaration  of  war.  Thus  Lawrence's  policy  of  masterly  inactivity 
in  Afghan  affairs  was  abandoned  by  Lord  Lytton,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  English  prime  minister,  Disraeli  (Lord  Beaconsfield), 
for  a  policy  of  intervention  to  thwart  the  designs  of  Russia,  which 
were  being  ably  carried  out  in  central  Asia  by  General  Kaufmann. 
The  position  was  greatly  complicated  by  the  disturbed  condition  in 
the  Balkans,  by  the  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1878,  and  by  the  ensuing 
negotiations  ending  in  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.  During  the  Russo- 
Turkish  war,  when  the  relations  between  England  and  Russia  were 
very  much  strained,  native  Indian  regiments  were  sent  from  India 
to  Malta  and  Cyprus,  being  the  first  appearance  of  Indian  troops 
in  Europe.  It  was  this  action  which  stimulated  the  Russians  in 
central  Asia  and  led  to  their  mission  to  Kabul. 

British  armies  advanced  by  three  routes — the  Khaibar,  the 
Kuram,  and  the  Bolan — and  without  much  opposition  occupied 
the  inner  entrances  of  these  passes  in  1878.  Sher  Ali  fled  to 
Afghan  Turkistan,  and  there  died,  February  21,  1879.  He  had 
ruled  justly  and  with  marked  ability,  introducing  reforms  upon 
European  lines,  and  endeavoring  to  maintain  the  independence  of 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  257 

1879-1880 

his  state  between  the  aggressions  of  England  and  Russia — "  an 
earthen  pipkin  between  two  iron  pots,"  in  the  words  of  Lord 
Lytton.  He  had  long  kept  his  son  and  heir,  Yakub  Khan,  im- 
prisoned, but  had  released  him  and  made  him  regent  when  he 
himself  fled  from  Kabul.  Yakub  Khan  showed  little  ability,  and 
failed  to  command  unanimous  support  in  Afghanistan.  Pierre 
Louis  Napoleon  Cavagnari,  the  representative  of  the  viceroy  on 
the  northwestern  frontier,  entered  into  a  treaty  with  Yakub  Khan, 
at  Gandamak  in  May,  1879,  by  which  the  British  frontier  was 
advanced  to  the  crests  or  Afghan  edge  of  the  passes,  and  a  British 
officer  was  admitted  to  reside  at  Kabul.  This  treaty  embodied  the 
new  principle  of  British  intervention  in  Afghanistan  and  practically 
made  the  country  tributary  to  British  India.  By  way  of  reward, 
and  because  of  his  thorough  knowledge  of  oriental  character  and 
his  remarkable  ability  in  dealing  with  orientals,  Cavagnari  was 
appointed  as  the  first  British  resident  at  Kabul.  Within  a  few 
months  he  was  treacherously  attacked  and  massacred,  together 
with  his  escort,  September  3,  1879,  and  a  second  war  became  neces- 
sary. Yakub  Khan  surrendered  to  General  Roberts  on  September 
30,  and  abdicated  on  October  28,  and  was  deported  to  India.  Kabul 
was  occupied  by  General  Roberts,  and  Kandahar  by  General  Donald 
Stewart,  and  a  national  rising  of  the  Afghan  tribes,  which  im- 
periled the  British  garrison  at  Kabul,  was  decisively  repulsed  by 
Roberts. 

General  Frederick  Sleigh  Roberts  was  born  at  Cawnpur, 
India,  on  September  30,  1832,  and  entered  the  Bengal  artil- 
lery in  1 85 1.  He  became  major-general  in  1878  and  a  field-mar- 
shal in  1895.  He  won  the  Victoria  cross  in  the  relief  of  Lucknow. 
He  was  quarter-master-general  in  India  from  1875  to  1878;  com- 
manded in  Afghanistan  from  1878  to  1880,  was  commander-in- 
chief  of  Madras  from  1881  to  1885,  of  India  from  1885  to  1893, 
of  Ireland  from  1895  to  1899,  and  in  South  Africa  from  1899  t0 
1900.  He  was  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  army  from  1901 
to  1904.  He  was  made  a  baronet  in  1881,  Baron  Roberts  of 
Kandahar  in  1892,  and  Earl  Roberts  of  Kandahar,  Pretoria,  and 
Water  ford  in  1901. 

The  conditions  both  in  Afghanistan  and  in  South  Africa  led 
to  bitter  attacks  upon  Lord  Beaconsfield's  ministry,  and  to  its  defeat 
in  the  general  election  of  1880.  Lord  Lytton  regarded  the  con- 
demnation as  extending  to  himself,  and  so  had  his  resignation 


258  INDIA 

1880-1881 

presented  with  that  of  his  chief,  in  April,  1880.  Though  Disraeli 
did  irritate,  and  even  anger,  the  English  people  by  the  extravagances 
and  blunders  of  his  jingoism,  he  taught  them  the  importance  and 
value  of  the  empire  both  in  India  and  in  the  colonies,  and  forced 
them  to  give  respectful  attention  to  imperial  questions.  If  Disraeli 
bade  Lytton  to  blunder  into  Afghanistan,  it  must  be  added  that 
Gladstone  made  his  successor  to  blunder  out,  a  double  blunder 
which  was  paralleled  in  the  contemporary  double  blunder  in  the 
Transvaal. 

The  Afghan  question  engrossed  the  attention  of  the  new 
viceroy,  the  marquis  of  Ripon,  during  the  first  year  of  his  adminis- 
tration. George  Frederick  Samuel  Robinson  was  born  in  London  on 
October  24,  1827,  and  succeeded  his  father,  who,  as  Viscount 
Goderich,  had  been  prime  minister  from  1827  to  1828,  as  earl  of 
Ripon  in  1859,  and  was  created  marquis  of  Ripon  in  1871.  He 
was  under  secretary  of  war  from  1859  to  1861,  and  for  India  in 
1 86 1.  He  was  secretary  of  war  from  1863  to  1866,  for  India 
in  1866,  and  lord  president  of  the  council  from  1868  to  1873.  In 
1 87 1  he  was  chairman  of  the  joint  commission  for  drawing  up 
the  Treaty  of  Washington.  He  had  been  grand  master  of  the 
Freemasons,  but  resigned  in  1874,  and  became  a  Catholic.  He 
was  viceroy  of  India  from  1880  to  1884,  being  the  first  Catholic 
to  hold  that  office.  One  of  his  first  orders  directed,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  discontinuance  of  Sunday  work  in  the  government 
offices. 

Following  up  the  successes  of  General  Roberts,  Lepel  Henry 
Griffin,  the  British  political  agent,  on  July  22,  1879,  pro- 
claimed as  amir,  Abdur  Rahman  Khan,  the  son  of  Dost  Moham- 
med's eldest  son,  Afzul  Khan.  A  few  days  Jater,  on  July  27,  Ayub 
Khan,  a  son  of  Sher  AH,  with  the  Herat  troops,  encountered  an 
English  brigade  at  Maiwand,  between  Kandahar  and  the  Helmand 
River,  and  inflicted  upon  the  British  the  severest  disaster  to  their 
arms  in  Asia  since  Chilianwala — a  defeat  promptly  retrieved  by 
the  brilliant  march  of  General  Sir  Frederick  Roberts  from  Kabul 
to  Kandahar,  and  by  the  total  rout  of  Ayub  Khan's  army  on 
September  1,  1880.  For  the  moment  the  English  attempted  to 
set  up  an  independent  chief  at  Kandahar,  but  abandoned  the 
attempt,  and  after  a  series  of  famous  debates  in  parliament,  sur- 
rendered it  to  Abdur  Rahman  Khan,  and  the  British  forces  retired 
from  Kabul,  leaving  Abdur  Rahman  in  possession  of  the  capital, 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  259 

1861-1882 

1 88 1.  Ayub  Khan  again  took  the  field.  His  success,  however, 
was  short-lived,  and  Abdur  Rahman  then  recovered  Herat,  and 
thenceforth  governed  the  whole  of  Afghanistan  peacefully  till  his 
death  in  September,  1901.  After  1880  England  returned  to 
Lawrence's  policy  of  masterly  inactivity  with  regard  to  Afghanis- 
tan, but  with  Lord  Mayo's  purpose  of  excluding  all  other  foreign 
influence  from  that  country.  In  one  point,  however,  Lawrence's 
policy  was  reversed:  Lord  Ripon  began  in  July,  1883,  the  pay- 
ment to  the  amir  of  "  a  fixed  annual  subsidy  "  of  1,200,000  rupees, 
or  about  $600,000.  The  English  government  capped  the  Afghan 
blunder,  which  it  had  forced  upon  the  government  of  India,  by  com- 
pelling the  government  of  India  to  assume  all  but  5,000,000/.  of 
the  23,412,000/.  which  the  blunder  had  cost. 

Aside  from  the  settlement  of  the  Afghan  question,  Lord 
Ripon's  administration  was  free  from  questions  of  foreign  rela- 
tions, and  only  two  events  of  any  account  are  to  be  noted.  On 
November  18,  1880,  Lord  Ripon  received  the  khan  of  Kelat  in 
darbar  at  Jacobabad,  thus  establishing  satisfactory  relations  with 
Baluchistan.  In  1882  a  contingent  of  Indian  native  troops  was 
sent  to  take  part  with  the  British  forces  in  the  successful  occupation 
of  Egypt. 

The  troops  were  under  the  command  of  Major-General  Herbert 
Taylor  Macpherson  (born  1827,  knighted  1879,  died  1886),  and 
were  largely  responsible  for  the  victory  of  Tel-el-Kebir,  though 
their  services  received  but  tardy  recognition.  The  Indian  gov- 
ernment had  to  bear  the  charge  for  the  expedition.  The  native 
princes  made  offers  of  contingents,  if  necessary.  Another  expedi- 
tion was  sent  to  Suakin,  to  cooperate  in  the  Sudan  campaign  of 
1885,  under  the  command  of  General  John  Hudson  (born  1883, 
knighted  1885,  died  1893),  who  was  afterward  commander-in- 
chief  in  Bombay  in  1893.  The  men  displayed  conspicuous  powers 
of  endurance  in  these  campaigns,  and  of  gallantry  in  the  field.  A 
chosen  band  of  the  Indian  officers  and  men  were  afterward  sent  to 
England,  and  received  an  enthusiastic  welcome  from  all  classes  of 
the  people.  The  only  serious  national  calamity  of  this  administra- 
tion was  on  September  18,  1880,  when  a  disastrous  landslip  oc- 
curred at  Naini  Tal,  an  important  hill  station  near  Simla,  resulting 
in  the  death  of  42  Europeans  and  105  natives. 

Lord  Ripon  availed  himself  of  the  unbroken  peace  which  pre- 
vailed in  India  after  1881  to  enter  on  a  series  of  internal  reforms. 


260  INDIA 

1882-1883 

The  years  1882  and  1883  will  be  memorable  for  these  great  meas- 
ures. By  repealing-  the  Vernacular  Press  Act,  passed  in  1878, 
he  set  free  the  native  journals  from  the  last  restraints  on  the  free 
discussion  of  public  questions.  In  1898  amendments  to  the  code 
gave  the  government  once  more  a  control  over  the  press,  which 
was  enforced  by  a  series  of  sedition  trials.  His  scheme  of  local 
self-government  has  opened  a  new  era  erf  political  life  to  the  natives 
of  India.  Lord  Ripon  did  what  he  could  to  increase  the  number 
of  natives  in  the  civil  service  and  increased  their  salaries.  He 
established  a  system  of  municipal  self-government  which  is  not 
altogether  suited  to  India,  for  in  many  places  the  rivalry  between 
Hindus  and  Mohammedans  is  intense,  and  in  most  cases  the  Hindus 
are  largely  in  the  majority.  The  policy  of  decentralization  was 
carried  still  further  by  Lord  Ripon  in  1882.  He  also  looked 
with  favor  upon  the  Indian  National  Congress,  which  met  for 
the  first  time  in  1883. 

At  the  same  time,  by  the  appointment  of  an  educational  com- 
mission, with  a  view  to  the  spread  of  popular  instruction  on  a 
broader  basis,  he  sought  to  fit  the  people  for  the  safe  exercise  of 
the  rights  which  he  conferred.  This  commission  rendered  the 
report  upon  its  investigations  in  1883. 

He  also  laid  the  foundations  for  the  great  measure  of  land 
legislation  for  Bengal  which  passed  into  law  under  his  successor, 
Lord  Dufferin.  The  Bengal  and  Oudh  Rent  Acts  were  passed  in 
March,  1885.  The  Bengal  Act  modified  Lord  Cornwallis'  Per- 
manent Settlement  of  1793,  and  Lord  Canning's  act  of  1859,  so 
as  to  guard  the  rights  of  the  tenants  against  the  zemindars  or 
landlords.     The  Oudh  act  had  a  similar  purpose. 

In  1882  Lord  Ripon's  finance  minister,  Evelyn  Baring,  tool 
off  the  import  duties  on  cotton  goods,  and  the  whole  Indian  import 
duties  were,  with  a  few  exceptions,  abolished.  This  distinguished 
financier  was  born  in  Cromer  Hall,  England,  on  February  26,  1841, 
and  was  educated  at  Woolwich.  He  entered  the  Royal  Artillery 
in  1858,  but  became  private  secretary  to  his  cousin,  Lord  North- 
brook,  during  his  viceroyalty  from  1872  to  1876.  He  was  com- 
missioner of  the  Egyptian  public  debt  from  1877  to  1879  and 
controller-general  in  Egypt  from  1879  to  1880.  He  was  finance 
member  of  the  governor-general's  council  from  1880  to  1883, 
when  he  left  India  to  assume  the  high  office  of  British  representa- 
tive at  Cairo,  amid  the  universal  regret  of  the  Indian  people.     He 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  261 

1883-1884 

was  knighted  in  1883,  created  Baron  Cromer  in  1892,  Viscount 
Cromer  in  1898,  and  Earl  Cromer  in  1901. 

A  department  of  agriculture  had  been  created  by  Lord  Mayo 
in  1871,  but  was  abolished  in  1877.  Early  in  his  rule  Lord  Ripon 
had  reestablished  this  department,  and  he  took  measures  to  guard 
the  country  against  famine.  Lord  Ripon  also  established  pro- 
vincial departments  of  agriculture.  During  the  winter  of  1883- 
1884   an  international  exhibition  was  held  at  Calcutta. 

In  1884  he  deputed  officers  to  England,  to  give  evidence  before 
the  parliamentary  committee,  with  a  view  to  the  extension  of 
Indian  railroads.  Lord  Ripon  retired  at  the  end  of  1884.  Some 
of  his  measures  for  the  promotion  of  local  self-government,  and 
especially  the  Ilbert  Act  of  January,  1884,  were  considered  by 
the  European  community  to  be  unsuited  to  the  actual  condition 
of  India. 

This  measure  stirred  up  the  most  virulent  opposition  of  the 
Anglo-Indians,  though  the  number  of  native  officials  whose  powers 
were  enlarged  was  very  small,  at  first  only  one.  The  measure 
was  really  designed  to  remedy  a  technical  irregularity.  The  right 
of  appeal  safeguards  all  Europeans  against  possible  injustice  at 
the  hands  of  native  judges.  But  whether  or  not  in  advance  of 
the  time,  it  is  now  realized  that  he  pointed  out  the  directions  in 
which  progress  must  sooner  or  later  take  place.  Lord  Ripon  loved 
the  people,  and  was  greatly  beloved  by  them. 

Lord  Ripon  had  a  group  of  noteworthy  associates  in  his 
council  and  in  charge  of  the  provincial  governments,  who  shared 
with  him  the  work,  and  must  bear  with  him  a  share  of  the  responsi- 
bility and  of  the  credit.  Sir  Donald  Stewart  became  commander- 
in-chief  in  1 88 1,  and  was  succeeded  as  military  member  of  the 
council  by  Major  General  T.  F.  Wilson,  who  died  in  office  in  1886. 
Baring  and  Colvin  managed  the  finances,  Stokes  and  Ilbert  directed 
the  law  department,  and  Hope  the  public  works,  while  Bayley, 
Thompson,  and  Gibbs  complete  the  list  of  members  of  council. 

Auckland  Colvin,  the  son  of  John  Russell  Colvin,  was  born 
in  1838,  and  entered  the  Indian  civil  service  in  1858.  He  was 
controller-general  in  Egypt  from  1880  to  1882,  financial  adviser 
to  the  Khedive  from  1882  to  1883,  finance  member  of  the  governor- 
general's  council  from  1883  to  1887,  and  lieutenant-governor  of 
the  Northwestern  Provinces  from  1887  to  1892.  He  retired  from 
India  in  1892,  and  is  now  chairman  of  the  Burma  Railways  Com- 


262  INDIA 

1880-1884 

pany.  He  was  knighted  in  1881.  Whitley  Stokes  was  born  in 
1830,  and  educated  at  the  University  of  Dublin,  and  became  a 
barrister  of  the  Inner  Temple  in  1855.  He  went  to  India  in  1862, 
where  he  held  a  succession  of  important  legal  posts,  ending  with 
his  services  as  law  member  of  the  governor-general's  council  from 
1877  *°  1882,  and  as  president  of  the  Indian  Law  Commission 
of  1879.  In  addition  to  several  law  books  he  is  the  author  of 
numerous  works  on  the  Celtic  languages  and  literatures.  He  now 
lives  in  London.  He  was  the  "  draftsman  of  many  Indian  con- 
solidation acts,  of  the  bulk  of  the  present  Codes  of  Civil  and 
Criminal  Procedure,"  and  of  numerous  other  acts.  Courtenay 
Peregrine  Ilbert  was  born  in  1841,  educated  at  Oxford,  and  admitted 
as  a  barrister  of  Lincoln's  Inn  in  1869.  He  was  law  member  of 
the  governor-general's  council  from  1882  to  1886,  and  vice-chan- 
cellor of  the  University  of  Calcutta  in  1885- 1886.  He  was  assist- 
ant parliamentary  counsel  to  the  treasury  from  1886  to  1899, 
and  then  for  two  years  parliamentary  counsel  to  the  treasury. 
Since  1901  he  has  been  clerk  of  the  house  of  commons.  He  was 
knighted  in  1895.  Theodore  Cracraft  Hope  was  born  in  183 1, 
and  entered  the  Bombay  civil  service  in  1853.  He  was  public 
works  member  of  the  governor-general's  council  from  1882  to  1887. 
He  was  knighted  in  1886.  Steuart  Colvin  Bayley  was  born  in 
1836,  and  entered  the  Bengal  civil  service  in  1856.  He  was  em- 
ployed in  numerous  important  posts,  was  knighted  in  1878,  and 
was  member  of  the  governor-generals's  council  from  1882  to  1887, 
and  lieutenant-governor  of  Bengal  from  1887  to  1890.  Since  1890 
he  has  been  secretary  to  the  political  and  secret  department  of 
the  India  Office,  and  since  1895  a  member  of  the  council  of  India. 
Augustus  Rivers  Thompson,  after  about  twenty  years  of  service 
in  India,  became  chief  commissioner  of  British  Burma  from  1875 
to  1878,  member  of  the  governor-general's  council  from  1878  to 
1882,  and  lieutenant-governor  of  Bengal  from  1882  to  1887.  He 
was  knighted  in  1885  and  died  in  1890.  James  Gibbs  was  mem- 
ber of  the  Bombay  council  from  1874  to  1879,  and  of  the  council 
of  the  governor-general  from  1880  to  1885.  He  was  born  in  1825 
and  died  in  1886. 

Duff  governed  Madras ;  Ferguson,  Bombay ;  Eden  and  Thomp- 
son, Bengal;  Couper  and  Alfred  Lyall,  the  Northwestern  Prov- 
inces; Egerton  and  Aitchison,  the  Punjab;  Morris  was  still  chief 
commissioner  of  the  Central  Provinces;  Bernard  was  chief  com- 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  263 

1880-1884 

missioner  of  British  Burma,  and  James  Lyall  was  resident  in 
Mysore  and  chief  commissioner  of  Coorg.  Mountstuart  Elphin- 
stone  Grant  Duff,  the  son  of  the  historian  of  the  Marathas,  was 
born  in  Scotland  in  1829.  He  was  member  of  parliament  from 
1857  to  1 88 1,  under  secretary  for  India  from  1868  to  1874,  and 
for  the  colonies  from  1880  to  188 1.  He  was  governor  of  Madras 
from  1 88 1  to  1886,  and  was  knighted  upon  his  retirement.  Be- 
tween 1897  and  1905  he  published  a  series  of  volumes  of  "  Notes 
from  a  Diary."  He  died  in  1906.  James  Fergusson  was  born 
in  Edinburgh  in  1832,  and  after  some  service  in  the  army,  includ- 
ing the  Crimean  War,  he  entered  parliament  and  served  as  under 
secretary  for  India  from  i860  to  1867,  for  the  home  office  from 
1867  to  1868,  and  for  the  foreign  office  from  1886  to  189 1.  He  was 
postmaster-general  from  1891  to  1892.  He  was  governor  of  South 
Australia  from  1869  to  1873,  of  New  Zealand  from  1873  to  I874, 
and  of  Bombay  from  1880  to  1885.  He  is  still  living.  Ashley 
Eden,  a  nephew  of  the  earl  of  Auckland,  was  born  in  1831.  He 
entered  the  Indian  civil  service  before  the  Mutiny  and  became 
chief  commissioner  of  British  Burma  from  1871  to  1875,  lieu- 
tenant-governor of  Bombay  from  1877  to  1882,  and  member  of 
the  council  of  India  from  1882  till  his  death  in  1887.  He  was 
knighted  in  1878.  George  Ebenezer  Wilson  Couper  was  born 
in  1824,  and  entered  the  Bengal  civil  service  in  1848,  serving 
with  the  Lawrences  in  the  Punjab  and  with  Sir  Henry  Law- 
rence at  Lucknow,  and  later  with  Outram.  He  was  chief  com- 
missioner of  Oudh  from  1871  to  1876,  and  lieutenant-governor 
of  the  Northwestern  Provinces  from  1876  to  1882,  when  he  re- 
tired from  India.  He  is  still  living.  Alfred  Comyn  Lyall  was 
born  in  1835,  and  entered  the  Bengal  civil  service  in  1855.  He 
was  knighted  in  1881,  and  served  as  lieutenant-governor  of  the 
Northwestern  Provinces  from  1882  to  1887.  He  was  member  of 
the  council  of  India  from  1888  to  1903,  and  of  the  Privy  Council 
since  1902.  Robert  Eyles  Egerton  was  born  in  1827,  and  entered 
the  Bengal  civil  service  in  1849.  He  was  lieutenant-governor  of 
the  Punjab  from  1877  to  1882,  and  has  since  lived  in  retirement. 
Charles  Umpherston  Aitchison  was  born  in  1832,  and  educated 
at  the  Universities  of  Edinburgh  and  Halle.  He  entered  the  Indian 
civil  service  in  1855,  and  was  knighted  in  1881.  He  was  chief 
commissioner  of  British  Burma  from  1878  to  1880,  lieutenant- 
governor  of  the  Punjab  from  1882  to  1887,  and  member   of  the 


264  INDIA 

1880-1884 

governor-general's  council  from  1887  till  his  retirement  in  the 
following  year.  He  died  in  1896.  He  edited  the  "  Collection  of 
Treaties  Relating  to  India."  Charles  Edward  Bernard  was  born 
in  1837,  and  entered  the  Bengal  civil  service  in  1858.  He  was  chief 
commissioner  of  Burma  from  1880  to  1887.     He  was  knighted  in 

1886,  and  died  in  1901.  James  Broadwood  Lyall  was  born  in 
1838,  and  entered  the  Bengal  civil  service  in  1858.  He  was  resi- 
dent in  Mysore  and  chief  commissioner  of  Coorg  from  1883  to 

1887,  and  lieutenant-governor  of  the  Punjab  from  1887  to  1892. 
He  was  member  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Opium  in  1893,  and 
President  of  the  Indian  Famine  Commission  in  1898.  He  was 
knighted  in  1888,  and  is  still  living. 

The  earl  of  Dufferin  succeeded  the  Marquis  of  Ripon  as 
viceroy  in  1884.  Frederick  Temple  Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood 
was  born  June  21,  1826,  and  succeeded  his  father  as  Baron  Dufferin 
in  the  Irish  peerage  in  1841.  He  was  created  Baron  Dufferin  in 
the  peerage  of  the  United  Kingdom  in  1850,  and  was  made  an 
earl  in  1871,  and  a  marquis  in  1888.  Among  lesser  posts  he  held 
those  of  under  secretary  for  India  from  1864  to  1886,  and  for 
war  in  1866,  and  chancellor  of  the  duchy  of  Lancaster  and  pay- 
master-general from  1868  to  1872.  He  was  governor-general  of 
Canada  from  1872  to  1878;  ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg  from 
1879  to  1 88 1 ;  at  Constantinople  from  1881  to  1884.  In  India  he 
sought  to  pursue  a  conservative  policy,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
in  contrast  with  the  blundering  imperialism  of  Lord  Lytton,  and 
the  overzealous  policy  of  internal  reform  of  Lord  Ripon.  Cir- 
cumstances, however,  compelled  the  new  viceroy  to  give  constant 
attention  to  serious  problems  of  foreign  relations.  Beyond  the 
northwestern  frontier,  in  central  Asia,  Russia  was  renewing  her 
policy  of  aggression;  beyond  the  eastern  frontier,  in  Indo-China, 
France  had  also  started  upon  an  aggressive  colonial  policy. 

Ever  since  the  Crimean  War  Russia  had  been  pressing  her 
conquests  in  central  Asia,  and  her  humiliation  at  the  Congress  of 
Berlin  in  1878  led  her  to  redouble  her  activities  in  central  Asia, 
where  she  finally  occupied  Merv  in  February,  1884.  The  advo- 
cates of  a  British  forward  policy  in  Afghanistan  and  on  the  north- 
west frontier  of  India  regard  Herat  as  the  gate  of  India.  The 
occupation  of  Merv  placed  Russia  within  easy  striking  reach  of 
Herat,  to  the  great  alarm  of  the  Russophobes.  Immediately  nego- 
tiations were  opened  between  London  and  St.  Petersburg,  which 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  265 

1884-1885 

resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a  joint  Afghan  Frontier  Commission 
in  August,  1884.  Sir  Peter  Stark  Lumsden  (born  in  1829  and 
knighted  in  1879),  the  British  commissioner,  promptly  appeared 
in  Afghanistan  with  a  grand  flourish.  The  Russian  commission 
never  appeared,  but  the  Russian  commander,  General  Komarov, 
was  active.  Nothing  was  accomplished  except  to  cause  a  clash 
between  Afghan  soldiers  and  the  Russians  in  the  Penjdeh  region. 
These  events  led  to  the  holding  of  a  darbar  at  Rawal  Pindi  on 
April  8,  1885,  where  the  viceroy  and  the  amir  met,  and  the  amir 
informed  the  viceroy  that  he  had  no  interest  in  Penjdeh.  This, 
in  a  way,  destroyed  the  British  position,  but  on  March  30  the 
troops  of  General  Komarov  had  violated  the  diplomatic  understand- 
ing between  England  and  Russia  by  attacking  and  driving  back 
an  Afghan  force  near  Penjdeh.  This  event  produced  the  famous 
war  scare  of  April,  1885.  Russia  then  took  prompt  measures  to 
assure  the  completion  of  the  negotiations,  and  arrangements  for  a 
new  boundary  commission  were  effected.  The  conduct  of  Glad- 
stone's ministry  in  this  matter,  coupled  with  the  withdrawal  from 
the  Sudan  at  the  same  time,  called  forth  serious  criticism,  and 
the  negotiations  were  ultimately  completed  by  the  new  conservative 
ministry  of  Lord  Salisbury.  The  work  of  delimiting  the  boundary 
between  the  Russian  territories  and  Afghanistan  was  done  chiefly 
by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Ridgeway  and  by  Paul  Lessar.  Joseph 
West  Ridgeway  entered  the  Bengal  infantry  in  i860.  He  was 
appointed  commissioner  to  determine  the  Afghan  boundary  in 
1885.  He  was  envoy  to  Morocco  in  1893,  lieutenant-governor 
of  the  Isle  of  Man  from  1893  to  1895,  and  governor  of  Ceylon  from 
1896  to  1903.  He  was  knighted  in  1885,  and  is  still  living.  Paul 
Lessar  was  of  Montenegrin  origin,  but  an  agent  in  the  Russian 
service,  employed  at  various  posts  in  Asia.  He  died  in  1905  while 
minister  of  Russia  at  Peking. 

Lord  Dufferin  continued  the  policy  inaugurated  by  Lord  Ripon 
in  1883  of  paying  the  amir  an  annual  subsidy  of  12  lakhs  of  rupees, 
a  sum  later  increased  to  18  lakhs.1  This  policy,  a  compromise  in 
its  character,  meant  a  full  recognition  of  the  autonomy  of  the  amir 
in  Afghanistan,  but  it  also  meant  that  England  would  make  it 
her  business  to  protect  the  amir  and  his  territories,  and  to  treat 

1  Twelve  lakhs  was  nominally  about  $600,000,  but  owing  to  the  depreciation 
of  the  rupee  actually  much  less.  Eighteen  lakhs  at  the  present  rate  is  worth 
$583,200. 


266  INDIA 

1884-1887 

him  as  her  necessary  ally.  The  Penjdeh  affair,  with  its  menace 
of  war,  led  the  native  states  of  India  to  come  forward  with  loyal 
offers  of  their  armies  and  resources  to  the  British  government.  It 
also  caused  England  to  increase  the  number  of  European  troops 
in  India  by  10,000  men,  and  the  native  contingent  by  about  twice 
as  many,  requiring  an  increased  annual  expenditure  of  1,500,000/. 

During  Lord  Dufferin's  administration  the  first  forward  move- 
ment was  made  at  another  point  on  the  northwestern  frontier. 
Arrangements  were  made  by  which  Quetta,  the  Bolan  Pass,  and 
the  neighboring  territory  became  British  Baluchistan  in  1887. 
Some  years  later,  in  1 890-1 891,  by  means  of  the  Zhob  Field  Force, 
and  similar  expeditions,  the  British  made  more  effective  their  control 
over  independent  Baluchistan.  In  1893  tne  °W  khan  of  Kelat,  who 
confessed  to  the  murder  of  3000  of  his  subjects  during  the  36  yeai 
of  his  reign,  was  deposed  and  his  son  set  up  in  his  stead,  anc 
in  1899  the  frontiers  of  British  Baluchistan  were  extended.  Ba- 
luchistan is  now  nominally  independent,  but  actually  it  is  a  pro- 
tectorate under  strict  British  surveillance,  a  very  different  positior 
from  that  of  Afghanistan.  The  development  of  Quetta  and  oi 
British  interests  in  Baluchistan  was  largely  the  work  of  the  first 
agent  of  the  governor-general  in  Baluchistan  and  first  chief  com- 
missioner of  British  Baluchistan,  Sir  Robert  Groves  Sandeman. 
This  man  was  born  in  1838,  and  was  employed  in  Baluchistai 
from  1877  till  his  death  in  1892.  He  was  knighted  in  1879,  anc 
was  chief  commissioner  of  British  Baluchistan  from  1887  to  1892. 

Beyond  the  eastern  frontier,  the  unrest  caused  by  the  Frencl 
activities  in  Indo-China  led  to  a  closer  attention  to  affairs  in  the 
independent  kingdom  of  upper  Burma.  The  persistent  misconduct 
of  King  Thebau,  his  ill-treatment  of  British  subjects,  and  his 
rejection  of  all  conciliatory  offers  led  to  British  armed  inter- 
vention. A  force  under  General  Harry  North  Dalrymple  Pren- 
dergast  (born  1834  and  knighted  in  1885)  invaded  upper  Buraic 
on  November  14,  1885,  and  two  weeks  later,  on  the  28th,  Thebai 
surrendered  at  his  capital.  The  king  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  Madras. 
On  January  1,  1886,  his  territories  were  annexed,  and  on  Septem- 
ber 25  were  incorporated  with  lower  Burma  as  a  province  oi 
British  India  under  Sir  Charles  Bernard  as  the  first  chief  com- 
missioner. Imperialism,  rather  than  justice,  characterized  Eng- 
land's intervention  in  Burma,  though  the  result  of  annexation  has 
been  the  establishment  of  settled  order,  a  better  government,  anc 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  267 

1884-1888 

greater  prosperity.  Had  England  followed  the  policy  laid  down 
by  Lord  Canning  after  the  Mutiny,  and  placed  a  representative  of 
the  royal  family  on  the  throne  and  administered  the  government 
in  his  name,  and  managed  Burma  like  the  native  states  of  India, 
probably  order  would  have  been  easily  restored.  The  policy  of 
annexation  aroused  the  Burmese  people,  who  sought  to  defend  their 
independence  by  a  protracted  guerrilla  warfare,  which  the  English 
stigmatized  as  dakaity  or  brigandage.  This  led  to  long  and  ex- 
pensive campaigning  in  upper  Burma  until  the  guerrilla  or  dakait 
bands  were  destroyed  by  harsh  and  rigorous  methods.  The  an- 
nexation of  Burma  was  opposed  by  the  natives  of  India,  both  as 
a  matter  of  policy  and  because  of  the  heavy  burden  of  resulting 
expenditure.  They  even  suggested  making  Burma  a  crown  colony, 
like  Ceylon  and  the  Straits  Settlements.  Burma  was  made  a 
lieutenant-governor's  province  and  given  a  legislative  council  on 
May  i,  1897. 

Early  in  1886  a  great  camp  of  exercise  was  held  on  the 
memorable  battle-plain  of  Panipat  in  the  Punjab:  and  the  fortress 
of  Gwalior  was  given  back  by  Lord  Dufferin's  government  to  its 
hereditary  chief,  the  Maharaja  Sindhia.  It  should  be  noted  that 
Sindhia  was  loyal  during  the  Mutiny,  though  his  troops  were 
not. 

During  1887  the  jubilee  or  fiftieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Her 
Majesty  the  Queen-Empress  Victoria  was  celebrated  with  universal 
enthusiasm  throughout  India.  A  great  commission  inquired  into 
the  question  of  more  largely  employing  native  officers  in  the  higher 
branches  of  the  administration.  This  commission,  headed  by  Sir 
Charles  Aitchison,  presented  a  report  in  1887,  which  resulted  in  a 
gradual  but  complete  remodeling  of  the  civil  service,  so  that  in 
place  of  the  old  convenanted  and  uncovenanted  civil  service  there 
now  exist  an  imperial  civil  service,  a  provincial  civil  service,  and 
a  subordinate  civil  service.  To  the  last  two  natives  easily  secure 
admission  and  far  outnumber  the  Europeans,  but  in  the  imperial 
civil  service  the  natives,  though  admitted,  have  to  conform  to 
regulations  which  are  simple  for  Englishmen,  but  more  difficult 
for  a  native  to  comply  with.  The  result  has  been  to  give  the  natives 
an  easier  access  to  a  larger  number  of  offices. 

The  earl  of  Dufferin  retired  from  office  in  1888,  and  was 
created  marquis  of  Dufferin  and  Ava  for  the  services  which  he 
had  rendered  during  his  viceroyalty.     He  was  ambassador  at  Rome 


268 


INDIA 


1888 

from  1888  to  1 89 1,  and  at  Paris  from  1891  to  1896.     He  died 
February  12,  1902. 

Lord  Dufferin  had  been  very  popular  with  the  Anglo-Indians, 
but  his  policy  in  Burma,  Afghanistan,  and  Baluchistan  had  alienated 
native  sympathies.  He  was  renowned  for  his  social  graces,  as  was 
also  Lady  Dufferin,  who  will  long  be  remembered  in  India  for 


her  sympathetic  interest  in  the  native  women.  In  order  to 
supply  them  with  proper  medical  and  surgical  attendance,  she 
started  the  movement  to  obtain  properly  trained  women  nurses 
and  doctors,  and  began  a  fund  to  promote  such  work  in  1885. 

The  marquis  of  Lansdowne  succeeded  Lord  Dufferin.  Henry 
Charles  Keith  Petty-Fitzmaurice  was  born  January  14,  1845,  an(^ 
succeeded  his  father  in  1866  as  fifth  marquis  of  Lansdowne  (the 
first  marquis  was  Lord  Shelburne,  the  prime  minister  of  George 
III.).     He  was  a  lord  of  the  treasury  from  1868  to  1872,  and 


UNDER     BRITISH    CROWN  269 

1888-1894 

under-secretaiy  for  war  from  1872  to  1874,  and  for  India  in  1880. 
He  was  governor-general  of  Canada  from  1883  to  1888,  and 
viceroy  of  India  from  1888  to  1894.  He  was  secretary  for  war 
from  1895  to  1900,  and  for  foreign  affairs  from  1900  to  1905. 

Under  Lord  Lansdowne's  rule  the  defenses  of  the  north- 
western frontier  of  India  were  strengthened,  and  the  passes  from 
Afghanistan  were  secured  against  any  possible  invaders.  This 
plan  of  frontier  defense,  worked  out  by  General  Roberts  and  by 
the  military  member  of  the  governor-general's  council,  General 
George  Tomkyns  Chesney,  provided  for  three  things :  railroad  com- 
munication between  the  frontier  and  the  military  base  in  India; 
the  fortification  of  selected  positions  commanding  the  passes  into 
India;  and  the  fortifications  of  great  cantonments  to  serve  as  the 
immediate  strategic  base  for  operations  along  the  frontier.  Rawal 
Pindi  was  selected  as  the  base  for  the  defense  of  the  important 
Khaibar  Pass,  with  strong  posts  at  Peshawar  and  at  Attock,  com- 
manding the  passage  of  the  Indus.  On  the  Baluchistan  frontier 
Quetta  is  the  strategic  center,  and  the  policy  of  Sir  Robert  Sande- 
man  in  dealing  with  the  Baluchi  tribes  and  chiefs  was  warmly  sup- 
ported by  Lord  Lansdowne,  and  was  carried  out  with  entire  success. 
The  character  and  the  history  of  the  land  and  the  peoples  on  the 
Baluchi  and  Afghan  frontiers  have  differed  widely  and  necessitated 
widely  different  polices  in  dealing  with  them.  At  the  same  time  the 
native  chiefs  were  allowed  to  take  a  more  important  position  than 
before  in  the  armies  of  India.  A  number  of  them  had  come  forward 
with  offers  of  money  and  troops  to  aid  in  the  defense  of  the  country. 
Under  Lord  Lansdowne  these  offers  were  accepted.  Many  of  the 
feudatories  now  maintain  regiments,  carefully  drilled  and  armed, 
which  in  time  of  war  would  serve  with  the  troops  of  the  British 
government.  These  regiments  are  kept  up  free  of  cost  to  the 
British  government,  and  are  a  free-will  offering  to  it  from  the 
loyalty  of  the  native  princes.  This  policy  was  adopted  in  1889, 
and  a  few  British  officers  are  assigned  for  purposes  of  supervision 
only,  and  the  contingents  are  officered  entirely  by  natives.  These 
troops  have  served  in  the  campaigns  on  the  northwest  frontier  and 
in  China  in  1900.  In  1901  these  so-called  imperial  service  troops 
numbered  6399  cavalry,  298  artillery,  and  9754  infantry,  a  total 
of  16,451  men,  supervised  by  19  British  officers.  These  troops 
are  practically  the  corps  d' elite  of  the  armies  of  the  native  states. 
No  definite  statistics  are  available  concerning  the  remainder  of 


270  INDIA 

1888-1894 

the  armies  of  the  native  states,  which  are  ill-organized.  The  insti- 
tution by  Lord  Curzon,  at  a  later  date,  of  an  Imperial  Cadet  Corps 
for  young  Indian  Chiefs  and  nobles,  without  necessarily  leading  to 
a  military  career,  may  give  additional  force  and  interest  to  the  asso- 
ciation of  British  and  native  troops. 

While  the  native  princes  are  thus  zealous  to  aid  the  sovereign 
power,  the  peoples  and  races  in  the  British  provinces  have  been 
learning  the  first  lessons  of  local  self-government.  Municipal  coun- 
cils and  district  boards  have,  during  the  past  forty  years,  been 
gradually  created  throughout  India  by  acts  either  of  the  govern- 
ment of  India  or  of  the  provincial  goverments.  The  first  case 
of  election  occurred  in  Lord  Northbrook's  administration.  Their 
members  consist  chiefly  of  native  gentlemen,  many  of  whom  are 
elected  by  their  fellow  citizens.  These  municipal  councils  and 
district  boards  now  manage  many  branches  of  the  local  adminis- 
tration. Their  legal  powers  and  their  practical  ability  to  do  good 
work  are  increasing.  At  the  same  time,  the  Indian  National  Con- 
gress, composed  of  delegates  from  all  parts  of  India,  has,  since  1885, 
been  held  each  December  in  one  of  the  provincial  capitals,  such  as 
Calcutta,  Madras,  Bombay,  and  Allahabad.  This  congress  dis- 
cusses plans  for  opening  a  larger  share  in  the  work  of  legislation 
and  in  the  higher  branches  of  the  executive  administration  to 
natives  of  India.  The  delegates  have  always  been  Hindus,  espe- 
cially Bengali  Brahmans.  The  Parsees  and  Mohammedans  have, 
in  general,  held  aloof  from  the  congress  and  often  have  openly 
opposed  it.  The  government  has  refused  to  accord  it  any  official 
recognition,  and  has  taken  measures  to  keep  the  official  classes  from 
participating  in  it.  Nevertheless,  some  of  the  strongest  supporters 
of  the  congress  have  been  retired  officials.  Two  examples  of  this 
statement  are  Sir  William  Wedderburn,  who  presided  at  the  fifth 
congress,  and  Allan  Octavian  Hume,  who  was  born  in  1829,  and 
served  in  the  Bengal  civil  service  from  1849  to  1882.  Wedder- 
burn was  born  in  1838,  and  served  in  the  Bombay  civil  service 
from  i860  to  1887,  being  judge  of  the  high  court,  and  chief  secre- 
tary to  the  government.  He  was  member  of  parliament  from 
1893  to  1900.  He  succeeded  as  fourth  baronet  in  1882,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Indian  Expenditure  in  1895. 

The  resolutions  of  the  congress  have  uniformly  contained 
assertions  of  loyalty  to  the  British  government  of  India,  and  have 
demanded  a  certain  group  of  reforms  in  the  administration.     The 


UNDER    BRITISH    CROWN  271 

1888-1910 

freedom  of  criticism  of  the  government  and  the  character  of  the 
demands  for  reform  have  not  caused  the  government  to  view  the 
congress  with  approbation.  Its  claims  to  be  representative  of 
an  Indian  nation  are  false,  for  there  is  no  Indian  nation,  the  con- 
gress does  not  by  any  means  represent  all  sections  of  the  Indian 
population,  and  it  is  only  in  a  limited  sense  representative  in  its 
constitution.  The  congress  would  be  impossible  were  there  no 
English  rule,  with  its  common  education  and  speech,  and  its  means 
of  communication,  especially  the  railroads.  Two  native  Indians 
have  stood  for  English  constituencies  and  been  elected  to  the  House 
of  Commons.  The  reports  of  the  proceedings  of  the  congress  are 
regularly  published  in  English,  and  are  easily  accessible.  A  peri- 
odical, called  India,  which  is  published  in  London  and  reports  all 
the  parliamentary  debates  concerning  India,  is,  in  a  measure,  an 
organ  of  the  congress. 

In  1892  the  British  parliament  passed  the  Indian  Councils  Act, 
which  increased  the  number  of  legislative  members  of  the  coun- 
cils, and  introduced  a  stronger  non-official  element.  This  act  was 
supplemented  by  a  series  of  regulations  issued  under  its  authoriza- 
tion by  the  governor-general  in  council  on  June  23,  1893,  which 
determined  the  methods  of  selection  of  legislative  members  of  coun- 
cil, in  accordance  with  the  needs  and  conditions  of  each  province. 
Legislative  councils  now  exist  in  Bengal,  Eastern  Bengal  and  As- 
sam, the  United  Provinces,  the  Punjab,  Burma,  Madras  and  Bom- 
bay. The  act  permits  discussion  of  the  budget  and  interpellation 
in  the  legislative  council.  The  year  1893  will  be  memorable  for 
the  first  general  election  of  representative  members  to  the  Indian 
legislative  councils. 

Side  by  side  with  this  political  movement,  efforts  have  been 
made  to  reform  certain  evils  in  the  social  and  domestic  life  of  the 
Hindus,  arising  out  of  the  customs  of  child-marriage  and  of  the 
enforced  celibacy  of  Hindu  widows.  The  whole  tendency  of  these 
efforts,  under  the  guidance  of  the  social  reformer,  Behramji  Mer- 
wanji  Malabari,  is  to  protect  young  Indian  girls  and  to  improve 
the  status  of  Indian  women.  He  is  a  Parsee.  Born  in  1853,  he  has 
spent  his  life  as  an  author,  editor,  and  social  reformer.  For  twenty 
years  he  edited  the  Indian  Spectator,  and  he  is  now  the  editor  of 
East  and  West.  He  was  mainly  instrumental  in  securing  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Age  of  Consent  Act. 
As   early  as    1856  the  government  of  India  had   legalized  the 


m 


INDIA 


1884-1894 

remarriage  of  widows,  and  in  1870  it  had  passed  a  female  infanti- 
cide act.  In  1887  the  courts  of  India  were  occupied  with  the 
case  of  Rukhmabai,  which  involved  the  right  of  the  man  to  enforce 
the  completion  of  the  marriage  contract.  In  1888  the  princes 
of  Rajputana  agreed  to  fix  the  minimum  age  for  marriage  at  four- 
teen for  girls  and  at  eighteen  for  boys.  In  March,  1891,  the  gov- 
ernment of  India  raised  the  age  of  consent  from  ten  to  twelve 
years.  About  1890  the  Pandita  Ramabai,  who  is  well  known  in 
America,  began  her  famous  work  at  Poona  for  the  education  of 
Hindu  widows. 

The  old  system,  by  which  the  Indian  armies  were  commanded 
by  three  separate  commanders-in-chief  in  Bengal,  Madras,  and 
Bombay,  had  become  antiquated,  owing  to  the  quicker  communca- 
tion  between  the  three  presidencies  by  means  of  railroads,  steamers, 
and  the  telegraph.  For  a  long  time  the  commander-in-chief  in 
Bengal  had  also  been  commander-in-chief  for  all  India.  It  was 
therefore  determined  to  have  only  one  central  commander-in-chief, 
with  four  lieutenant-generals  under  him  at  the  head  of  the  four 
great  military  divisions  of  India.  The  separate  commanders-in- 
chief  for  Madras  and  Bombay  were  abolished.  Thus  in  Bengal, 
the  Punjab,  Bombay,  and  Madras  there  was  a  lieutenant-general 
who  was  practically  the  head  of  an  army  corps.  The  native  regi- 
ments were  renumbered,  and  various  other  measures  were  taken 
to  blot  out  every  trace  of  the  old  provincial  army  system,  and  to 
give  strength  to  the  new  arrangements.  This  long-desired  reform 
was  worked  out  chiefly  by  General  Roberts,  though  not  all  of  the 
measures  went  into  effect  until  after  the  close  of  his  service  as 
commander-in-chief.  By  1895,  after  five  years  of  work,  the 
changes  were  completed. 

In  1893  the  old  religious  strife  between  the  Hindus  and  Mus- 
sulmans broke  out  afresh.  A  series  of  fanatical  riots  took  place 
at  the  festivals  of  the  two  faiths  in  many  of  the  British  provinces 
and  native  states  of  India,  from  Burma  to  the  northwest  and  Bom- 
bay. In  some  of  these  tumults,  especially  in  the  city  of  Bombay, 
much  blood  was  shed,  men  were  killed,  and  houses  were  burned. 
By  the  end  of  1893  the  excitement  had  calmed  down  again.  There 
were  similar  but  less  violent  and  less  widespread  disturbances  in 
later  years,  but  they  have  been  of  slight  account  since  1895,  when 
the  government  began  the  policy  of  requiring  the  turbulent  locality 
to  defray  the  cost  of  suppressing  the  riot.     Apparently  the  rea- 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  273 

1888-1894 

son  for  the  riots  was  the  denunciation  by  Hindu  fanatics  of  the 
Mohammedans  for  killing  cows,  which  the  Hindus  consider  sacred. 

The  pacification  of  Burma  was  scarcely  completed  when  Lord 
Lansdowne  arrived,  and  under  his  administration  field  forces  had 
to  be  employed  against  the  Chins  on  the  Bengal  border,  the  Karens 
and  the  Shans  on  the  Siamese  frontier,  and  the  Kakhyens  near 
the  Chinese  border.  These  tribes  all  submitted  gradually.  Later 
a  series  of  agreements  with  China  resulted  in  a  complete  delimita- 
tion of  the  frontier  by  1902.  The  murder  of  several  English 
officers  at  Manipur  on  March  24,  1891,  was  followed  by  a  puni- 
tive expedition,  which  quieted  the  disturbances  in  that  state.  In 
1889  an  interesting  case  arose  over  the  malfeasance  of  an  English 
official  named  Crawford,  who  was  finally  removed  from  the  serv- 
ice by  Lord  Reay,  the  governor  of  Bombay.  So  great  was  the 
outcry  by  English  officials,  it  was  found  advisable  to  recall  Lord 
Reay.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  when  Lord  Lansdowne  entered 
office  old  Haileyburians  were  still  holding  many  of  the  most  im- 
portant posts  in  India,  but  nearly  all  of  them  had  retired  before 
Lord  Lansdowne  left  India.  The  last  Haileyburian  to  retire  from 
the  service  was  Sir  Henry  Thoby  Prinsep,  who  retired  in  1904, 
after  twenty-six  years  of  service  as  judge  of  the  high  court  at 
Calcutta.  While  Haileyburians  had  monopolized  the  important 
posts  at  the  arrival  of  Lord  Lansdowne,  before  his  viceroyalty 
closed  a  large  number  of  the  highest  posts  came  to  be  held  by 
Etonians.  In  1890  Prince  Albert  Victor,  eldest  son  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  afterward  Edward  VII.,  made  a  tour  of  the  country,  and 
in  the  same  year,  the  csarevitch,  later  Tsar  Nicolas  III.,  paid  a 
visit  to  India. 

The  continued  fall  in  the  rupee  from  its  nominal  value  of 
fifty  cents  to  an  actual  value  of  about  twenty-nine  cents,  in  1893, 
with  a  further  downward  inclination  toward  twenty-five  cents, 
seriously  embarrassed  the  Indian  finances.  India  had  yearly  to 
remit  about  $90,000,000  in  gold  to  England,  chiefly  in  payment 
of  interest  on  loans,  railroad  material,  and  army  charges ;  and  this 
sum,  which  would  have  amounted  to  180,000,000  rupees  with  the 
rupee  equal  to  fifty  cents,  would  amount  to  360,000,000  rupees 
with  the  rupee  at  a  quarter  of  a  dollar.  The  remedy  proposed  by 
the  government  of  India  was  bimetallism;  that  is,  to  establish  a 
fixed  ratio  between  silver  and  gold  for  purposes  of  coinage  by 
international  agreement.     As   England  and   the  western  nations 


274  INDIA 

1888-1894 

could  not  combine  to  carry  out  that  scheme,  the  Indian  mints  were 
closed  for  free  coinage  in  1893,  in  order  to  render  rupees  scarce 
and  so  to  raise  and  to  keep  up  their  sterling  value  to  twenty-nine 
cents.  This  expectation  was  not  realized,  for  the  price  of  silver 
continued  to  fall,  and  in  1895  the  value  of  the  rupee  sank  to  about 
twenty-seven  cents.  A  royal  commission  was  appointed  in  that 
year  to  inquire  into  Indian  finances,  with  a  view,  if  possible,  to 
securing  some  remedy  for  the  situation. 

After  the  presentation  of  its  report,  a  gold  standard  was 
established  in  1899,  and  fixity  of  exchange  was  secured.  The 
rupee  has  since  remained  at  thirty-three  cents.  Sir  Auckland  Col- 
vin's  successors  as  finance  members  of  the  governor-general's  coun- 
cil have  had  to  bear  most  of  the  burden  of  settling  this  important 
financial  problem.  They  have  been  David  Miller  Barbour,  from 
1888  to  1893 ;  James  Westland,  from  1893  to  1899;  Clinton  Edward 
Dawkins,  from  1899  to  1900,  and  Sir  Edward  FitzGerald  Law, 
from  1900  to  1904. 

In  January,  1894,  Lord  Elgin  succeeded  Lord  Lansdowne. 
Victor  Alexander  Bruce  was  born  near  Montreal,  Canada,  dur- 
ing his  father's  governor-generalship,  on  May  16,  1849.  He 
succeeded  his  father,  who  died  while  viceroy  of  India  in  1863,  as 
ninth  earl  of  Elgin  and  Kincardine.  He  was  commissioner  of 
works  in  1886. 

The  financial  reforms  and  tax  reductions  of  Lord  Ripon's  ad- 
ministration had  been  largely  undone  by  the  Burma  war,  which  cost 
4,000,000/.,  the  Penjdeh  scare,  which  cost  2,000,000/.,  and  the  army 
increase  at  an  additional  annual  cost  of  1,500,000/.  To  meet  this 
the  income  tax  had  been  revived  in  1886,  and  the  salt  tax  increased 
in  1888,  and  a  five  per  cent,  customs  duty  was  imposed  in  1894, 
and  extended  to  cotton  goods  in  1895.  The  license  tax,  however, 
had  been  repealed  in  1886. 

After  much  discussion,  this  duty  was  extended  to  Manchester 
cotton  cloths  of  the  finer  qualities,  with  which  the  Indian  mills  do 
not  compete.  A  curious  panic  was  caused  during  the  summer 
of  1894  by  the  secret  smearing  of  multitudes  of  trees  in  northern 
India,  and  hidden  and  ominous  meanings  were  ascribed  to  it.  The 
practice  was  found  to  be  a  harmless  act  of  certain  devotees  to  call 
popular  attention  to  the  shrine  of  their  god. 

In  1893  a  royal  commission  was  issued  to  inquire  into  the 
results  of  using  opium  in  India,  and  the  possibility  of  prohibiting 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  275 

1894-1897 

it.  After  examining  many  witnesses  in  England  and  India,  eight 
of  the  nine  commissioners  reported  in  1895  that  the  results  of 
using  opium  in  India  were  much  less  harmful  than  had  been  sup- 
posed in  England.  It  was  found  that  opium  sent  scarcely  any 
criminals  to  the  Indian  jails,  scarcely  any  patients  to  the  Indian 
hospitals,  and  scarcely  any  lunatics  to  the  Indian  asylums.  It 
was  proved  that  opium  does  not  act,  as  alcohol  does  in  Great 
Britain,  as  a  cause  of  crime,  disease,  and  death,  while  it  is  largely 
used  as  a  remedy  for  fever  and  malaria.  Parliament  agreed  with 
the  royal  commission's  report,  and  declined  to  prohibit  the  use 
of  opium  in  India. 

Another  parliamentary  commission  made  an  inquiry  into  the 
use  of  bhang,  ganja,  and  similar  native  drugs,  with  like  results. 
It  was  pointed  out  that  an  attempt  to  prohibit  the  use  of  opium  and 
similar  drugs  would  lead  to  an  increased  use  of  alcoholic  beverages 
by  the  natives,  which  would  be  productive  of  far  greater  evils. 
An  effort  to  supplant  the  use  of  opium  as  a  febrifuge  was  made 
by  the  introduction  of  the  cinchona  tree,  which  has  been  grown 
in  India  with  some  success,  and  its  bark  has  been  used  to  some 
extent.  Opium  may  be  grown  only  by  licensed  individuals,  who 
are  required  to  sell  their  whole  product  to  the  government,  which 
manufactures  the  marketable  article,  and  sells  it  at  regular  auction 
for  export.  Opium  grows  in  Behar,  the  Northwestern  Provinces, 
and  Oudh,  and  their  product  is  called  Bengal  opium.  It  also 
grows  in  certain  native  states  in  central  India  and  Rajputana,  and 
their  product  is  known  as  Malwa  opium,  and  passes  into  govern- 
ment hands  the  same  as  the  Bengal  opium.  About  ninety  per  cent, 
of  the  exported  opium  goes  to  China.  Two-thirds  of  the  profits  go 
to  the  government.  Opium  is  rarely  smoked  in  India  except  in 
Burma.  In  considering  the  report  of  the  opium  commission,  spe- 
cial attention  should  be  given  to  the  minority  report  of  Henry 
Joseph  Wilson,  who  vigorously  criticised  the  conduct  of  the  com- 
mission. Wilson  was  born  in  1833,  and  has  been  a  member  of 
parliament  since  1885.  He  is  a  radical,  a  vigorous  opponent  of 
all  the  Chamberlain  policies,  and  a  notable  reform  agitator. 

In  1895  the  government  began  the  inspection  of  the  pilgrim 
ships  between  India  and  Arabia,  and  the  measure  received  the 
approval  of  the  Mohammedans.  In  1897  a  parliamentary  com- 
mission investigated  the  question  of  contagious  diseases  in  the 
army,  dealing  especially  with  the  difficult  and  serious  problem  of 


276  INDIA 

1894-1898 

venereal  diseases,  which  were  extensively  prevalent.  The  tea  plan- 
tations of  Assam  were  seriously  damaged  by  an  earthquake  on  June 
12,  1897.  A  legislative  council  was  granted  to  the  Punjab  in  1897, 
and  also  to  Burma,  which  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  lieutenant- 
governor's  province.  The  diamond  jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria  in 
1897  was  duty  celebrated  in  India,  and  the  native  princes  sent 
detachments  of  the  imperial  service  troops  to  London  to  partici- 
pate in  the  festivities.  An  agitation  for  imperial  penny  postage 
took  place  at  this  time,  and  India  cooperated  promptly  with  other 
parts  of  the  British  empire  in  carrying  out  the  plan.  The  action 
was  followed  by  a  corresponding  reduction  of  the  domestic  postage 
rate  in  India. 

During  the  governor-generalships  of  Lord  Lansdowne  and 
Lord  Elgin  a  series  of  measures  were  taken  to  settle  the  boundaries 
of  the  Indian  empire  on  its  eastern  and  northeastern  borders.  In 
the  east  the  territories  of  upper  Burma,  annexed  in  1886,  were 
molded  into  a  peaceful  and  prosperous  British  province.  Eng- 
land concluded  agreements  with  China  respecting  Burma,  its 
frontier,  and  its  trade  on  July  24,  1886,  March  1,  1894,  and 
February  4,  1897.  The  sphere  of  French  influence  from  the  Ton- 
quin  side  was  defined  in  the  agreement  made  with  France  on 
January  15,  1896. 

In  the  extreme  northwest  of  India,  the  frontier  between  the 
British  dominions  and  Afghanistan  was  fixed.  While  affairs  on 
the  Baluchistan  frontier  have  caused  almost  no  trouble,  the  situa- 
tion on  the  Afghan  frontier  has  always  been  a  perplexing  one. 
In  1864  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  who  had  easily  maintained  satisfactory 
conditions  along  the  frontier  of  Sind  during  his  administration, 
wrote  to  Sir  John  Lawrence  protesting  against  the  policy  pursued 
on  the  Punjab  frontier,  which,  by  contrast,  was  always  a  scene 
of  disturbance.  Lawrence  replied :  "  From  the  borders  of  Sind 
northward,  the  character  of  the  people  both  in  the  hills  and  on 
the  plains  differs  as  you  go  along."  These  turbulent  tribes 
occupied  the  hill  country  and  the  valleys  lying  between  the  Indus 
and  Afghanistan.  Many  of  them  were  of  Indo-European  stock, 
and  had  never  been  subdued  by  the  passing  generations  and  races 
of  conquerors.  Over  many  of  them  the  amir  claimed  a  suzerainty 
which  he  never  made  real.  The  position  of  these  tribes  was,  in 
a  measure,  a  guarantee  of  the  safety. of  India  from  invasion  on 
that  frontier,  but  the  tribesmen  were. a  perpetual  menace  to  the 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  277 

1894-1898 

friendly  relations  of  the  British  and  Afghans.  Scarcely  a  year 
went  by  that  one  or  more  of  these  tribes  did  not  raid  the  peaceful 
plains  below  or  commit  some  offense  which  required  the  sending 
of  a  punitive  expedition.  This  condition  went  on  year  after  year 
until  the  settlement  of  the  Russo-Afghan  frontier  and  the  develop- 
ment of  Lord  Roberts'  plan  of  frontier  defense  had  been  completed. 
Then  the  government  of  India  decided  to  secure  an  exact  delimi- 
tation of  the  frontier  between  India  and  Afghanistan  and  to  reduce 
to  order  the  tribes  within  the  bounds  of  India  and  to  encourage 
the  amir  to  establish  his  power  over  his  tribes.  The  Russo-Afghan 
frontier  was  finally  completed  by  the  agreement  concerning  the 
Pamirs  on  March  n,  1895.  At  the  same  time  the  conditions  on 
the  frontier,  which  had  been  exceedingly  restless  since  1888,  reached 
a  climax  in  Chitral. 

The  more  southerly  part  of  the  boundary  had  been  defined 
by  the  agreement  negotiated  with  the  amir  on  November  12,  1893, 
by  Sir  Henry  Mortimer  Durand,  the  son  of  Sir  Henry  Marion 
Durand,  which  conceded  Waziristan  to  the  English.  The  new 
territory  was  occupied  by  General  William  Stephen  Alexander 
Lockhart,  the  nephew  of  the  biographer  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and 
the  boundary  was  surveyed  in  1895.  In  the  same  year  Nasirulla 
Khan,  second  son  of  Abdur  Rahman,  and  full  brother  of  the  Amir 
Habibulla,  for  the  first  time  visited  England.  He  received  a  mag- 
nificent reception,  and  visited  the  chief  centers  of  British  industry 
and  commerce. 

At  the  extreme  north  the  valley  of  Kashmir,  which,  at  the  close 
of  the  Sikh  wars,  had  been  recognized  by  the  British  as  an  inde- 
pendent state  under  their  protection,  was  brought  into  closer  re- 
lations with  India  by  the  establishment  of  a  British  resident  at 
Srinagar,  the  capital,  after  the  accession  of  the  new  maharaja  in 
1885.  Kashmir  entered  on  a  new  development  by  the  settlement 
of  its  land  revenue  and  of  the  cultivator's  rights,  on  equitable  prin- 
ciples, by  a  highly  skilled  British  officer  whom  the  maharaja 
employed  for  that  purpose.  This  officer  was  Walter  Roper  Law- 
rence, who  was  born  in  1857,  entered  the  Indian  civil  service  in 
1879,  and  was  knighted  in  1903.  He  was  settlement  commissioner 
in  Kashmir  from  1889  to  1895.  He  was  private  secretary  to  Lord 
Curzon  from  1898  to  1903,  and  head  of  the  staff  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales  during  his  Indian  tour  in  1905- 1906. 

British  influence  was  firmly  established  in  the  outlying  prov- 


278  INDIA 

1894-1898 

inces  of  Kashmir  to  the  north,  along  the  line  of  Hunza,  Nagar,  and 
Gilgit,  by  Colonel  Algernon  George  Arnold  Durand,  son  of  Sir 
Henry  Marion  Durand,  who  opened  a  British  agency  at  Gilgit  in 
March,  1889,  and  reestablished  the  control  of  the  maharaja  of 
Kashmir  over  those  regions. 

Owing  to  a  disputed  succession  and  the  ambitious  designs  of 
Umra  Khan,  a  neighboring  chieftain,  as  well  as  to  the  general 
conditions  of  unrest,  Chitral  was  a  storm-center  at  the  beginning 
of  1895,  when  the  Pamir  question  was  being  settled.  George 
Scott  Robertson,  the  British  agent  at  Gilgit,  who  was  then  at 
Chitral,  found  himself  involved  in  the  struggle,  was  besieged  in 
the  Chitral  fort,  and  defended  himself  with  great  gallantry  against 
overwhelming  odds  for  46  days.  A  powerful  force,  under  Robert 
Cunliffe  Low,  was  advanced  from  the  Punjab  to  relieve  him,  while 
a  smaller  body  of  Indian  and  Kashmir  troops,  under  Lieutenant 
Colonel  James  Graves  Kelly,  marched  to  his  aid  across  the  snows 
from  Gilgit.  After  the  two  expeditions  had  overcome  great  phy- 
sical obstacles,  from  the  height  of  the  passes  and  the  then  almost 
inaccessible  situation  of  Chitral,  the  enemy  abandoned  the  siege 
of  the  fort  on  April  18,  1895.  The  political  officer  at  Chitral  and 
his  little  garrison  were  saved,  and"  the  British  influence  was  con- 
firmed in  that  remote  mountainous  corner  which,  by  the  recent 
agreement  with  Russia,  had  come  within  fifty  miles  of  the  Russian 
sphere  of  influence  in  central  Asia.  The  Waziris  went  on  the  war- 
path again  in  June,  1897,  and  General  George  Corrie  Bird,  who 
entered  the  Indian  army  in  1856,  was  sent  to  subdue  them.  The 
Swatis  and  Mohmands  arose  in  July,  and  in  August  the  Afridis  in 
the  Khaibar  Pass  joined  the  insurgents,  among  whom  a  Moham- 
medan fanatic,  known  as  the  Mad  Mullah,  was  active.  The  cam- 
paign for  the  subjugation  of  these  tribes  is  generally  known  as 
the  Tirah  campaign. 

The  commander-in-chief  in  India  at  this  time  was  Sir  George 
White,  and  the  generals  who  played  the  leading  part  in  the  cam- 
paign were  Lockhart,  Bird,  Palmer,  Blood,  and  Elles.  George 
Stuart  White  was  born  in  1835  and  entered  the  army  in  1853.  He 
served  in  the  Mutiny  and  in  Afghanistan,  Burma,  Egypt,  and  on 
the  northwest  frontier.  He  was  commander-in-chief  in  India  from 
1893  to  1898.  He  served  in  South  Africa  in  1899- 1900,  where 
he  defended  Ladysmith.  He  was  governor  of  Gibraltar  from  1900 
to  1904,  and  has  since  been  governor  of  Chelsea  Hospital.     He 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  279 

1894-1899 

won  the  Victoria  Cross  in  1879,  and  was  knighted  in  1886.  Arthur 
Power  Palmer  was  born  in  1840  and  entered  the  Indian  army  in 
1857.  He  served  through  the  Mutiny,  and  in  Abyssinia,  Afghanis- 
tan, Egypt,  Chin  Hills,  and  Tirah.  He  was  commander-in-chief 
in  India  from  1900  to  1902.  He  was  knighted  in  1894  and  died 
in  1904.  Bindon  Blood  was  born  in  1842  and  entered  the  royal 
engineers  in  i860.  He  served  in  Zululand,  Afghanistan,  Egypt, 
and  Chitral.  In  1897- 1898  he  commanded  the  Malakand  Field 
Force  and  the  Buner  Field  Force.  He  served  in  South  Africa  from 
1899  to  1 90 1,  where  he  became  lieutenant-general,  commanding 
troops  in  eastern  Transvaal.  He  is  now  lieutenant-general  com- 
manding in  the  Punjab.  Edmond  Roche  Elles  was  born  in  1848  and 
entered  the  royal  artillery  in  1867.  He  served  in  the  Lushai,  Egyp- 
tian, and  Hazara  expeditions.  From  1895  to  1900  he  commanded 
the  Peshawar  district,  and  commanded  the  Mohmand  Expeditionary 
Force  in  1897.  From  1901  to  1905  he  was  military  member  of 
the  governor-general's  council.  He  was  knighted  in  1898.  The 
campaign  ended  in  February,  1898,  having  cost  the  British  2500 
lives  and  about  3,000,000/.  Since  then  the  frontier  has  remained 
comparatively  quiet,  and  later  certain  districts  were  organized  by 
Lord  Curzon  into  the  Northwest  Frontier  Province. 

In  1898  the  earl  of  Elgin  was  succeeded  by  Lord  George 
Nathaniel  Curzon  of  Kedleston,  who  had  already  considerable  ex- 
perience of  India's  needs.  Lord  Curzon  was  born  at  Kedleston  on 
January  11,  1859,  and  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Balliol  college, 
Oxford.  He  was  a  member  of  parliament  from  1886  to  1898, 
under  secretary  for  India  from  1891  to  1892,  and  for  foreign 
affairs  from  1895  to  1898.  He  traveled  widely  in  central,  eastern, 
and  southern  Asia,  and  wrote  upon  Indian,  Persian,  and  other 
Asiatic  questions.  He  was  created  Baron  Curzon  of  Kedleston  in 
the  Irish  peerage  in  1898.  His  wife  is  Mary  Victoria  Leiter,  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  L.  Z.  Leiter  of  Washington. 

He  formally  assumed  the  office  of  governor-general  at  Cal- 
cutta on  January  6,  1899.  Special  commissions  of  inquiry  were 
at  once  appointed  with  view  to  a  series  of  schemes  of  administra- 
tive reforms,  embracing  police,  irrigation,  railroads,  and  education 
in  every  branch.  These  commissions  nearly  all  reported  in  1903. 
The  work  of  putting  their  recommendations  into  operation  was 
necessarily  a  slow  one,  and  Lord  Curzon  scarcely  had  time  to 
accomplish  all  that  was  planned,  and  the  result  of  the  work  cannot 


280  INDIA 

1899-1904 

yet  be  judged.  The  irrigation  commission,  under  the  presidency 
of  the  experienced  engineer  and  Indian  official,  Sir  Colin  Campbell 
Scott-Moncrieff  (born  1836,  knighted  1903),  planned  for  pro- 
tective works  costing  440,000,000  rupees,  about  $142,560,000, 
and  requiring  twenty  years  of  work.  In  his  own  words,  Lord  Cur- 
zon  had  set  himself  the  task  "  of  placing  upon  the  anvil  every 
branch  of  Indian  policy  and  administration,  of  testing  its  efficiency 
and  durability,  and  of  doing,  if  possible,  something  for  its  effi- 
ciency and  durability."  He  undertook  also  a  series  of  visits  to  na- 
tive states  and  parts  of  India  never  previously  visited  by  a  viceroy, 
and  was  received  everywhere  with  a  cordiality  which  witnessed  to 
the  sense  of  security  and  strength  which  proceed  from  incorporation 
in  the  great  unity  of  the  Indian  empire. 

In  1900  Lord  Curzon  visited  Assam  and  Quetta,  and  later 
made  a  tour  of  the  coast,  either  by  land  or  sea,  from  Karachi,  around 
Cape  Comorin,  to  Calcutta.  In  1901  he  went  to  Nepal  and  to 
Burma,  visiting  even  remote  parts.  In  1903  he  made  a  notable  tour 
of  the  Persian  Gulf  to  strengthen  England's  control  in  those  parts. 
In  1904  he  made  an  extended  visit  to  England,  being  the  first  vice- 
roy to  do  so  during  his  incumbency. 

To  him  is  due,  also,  the  sustained  policy  of  archaeological  con- 
servation and  restoration,  which  will  preserve  to  the  peoples  of 
India  the  great  monuments,  political,  military,  and  religious,  of 
the  past,  as  abiding  memorials  of  the  different  ages  of  the  long 
history  of  the  land.  A  brilliant  young  Cambridge  graduate,  John 
Hubert  Marshall  (born  1876),  was  appointed  director-general  of 
the  Archaeological  Survey  of  India  in  1902,  and  an  annual  ap- 
propriation of  100,000  rupees  ($32,400)  was  placed  at  his  dis- 
posal for  the  preservation  of  national  monuments.  The  policy  was 
also  adopted  of  stopping  the  use  of  historic  buildings  for  offices 
and  barracks,  and  preserving  them  henceforth  as  nearly  as  possible 
in  their  original  condition,  while  in  other  cases  efforts  are  made 
to  preserve  the  monuments  from  natural  decay. 

Military  reforms  were  continued  and  amplified.  The  native 
states  were  encouraged  in  their  support  of  the  Imperial  Service 
Troops,  and  an  Imperial  Cadet  Corps  was  created  for  the  training 
of  the  sons  of  native  princes.  Plans  were  worked  out  for  the 
establishment  of  an  Indian  Staff  College  at  Quetta.  A  native  army 
reserve  was  created,  with  the  intention  of  retaining  one  native 
soldier  in  the  reserve  to  every  three  in  active  service.     The  re- 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  281 

1899-1904 

cruiting  of  the  native  troops  was  more  largely  carried  out  on  the 
basis  of  creating  racial  and  tribal  regiments.  Not  only  was  the 
number  of  Sikh  and  Gurkha  regiments  increased,  but  other  tribal 
regiments  such  as  the  Garhwalis  were  organized.  This  appeal  to 
tribal  and  racial  loyalty,  as  a  means  of  securing  an  esprit  de  corps 
among  the  native  troops,  is  best  exemplified  in  the  case  of  the 
Afridis  of  the  Khaibar  Pass,  who  have  been  organized  into  the 
Khaibar  Rifles.  A  large  addition  of  British  officers  was  made  to 
the  native  force,  a  transport  service  was  created,  and  the  entire 
Indian  army  was  rearmed  with  Lee-Enfield  rifles  of  .303  bore. 
Breech-loading  guns  were  introduced  for  the  artillery,  and  smoke- 
less powder  was  adopted.  British  troops  were  dispatched  from 
India  to  South  Africa,  where  they  did  valuable  service  in  Natal 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Boer  War,  while  native  troops  were  em- 
ployed in  colonial  garrisons  to  release  British  troops  for  service 
in  South  Africa.  Native  troops  were  also  sent  to  China,  where 
they  joined  in  the  relief  of  the  besieged  legations  at  Peking  in 
1900.  The  employment  of  these  troops  belonging  to  the  Indian 
establishment  for  purely  British  service  resulted  in  a  large  saving 
of  expense  to  the  government  of  India,  which  was  thus  enabled  to 
secure  the  rearming  of  the  Indian  army  without  an  increase  in  the 
military  budget.  From  the  Indian  establishment  13,200  Euro- 
peans, with  a  large  number  of  native  camp-followers,  were  dis- 
patched to  South  Africa  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Boer  War.  Three 
sepoy  regiments  were  sent  to  serve  in  the  garrisons  of  the  Mauritius, 
Singapore,  and  Hongkong,  in  order  to  release  European  troops 
for  service  in  South  Africa,  it  not  being  considered  good  policy  to 
use  native  Indian  troops  to  fight  a  people  of  European  origin  like 
the  Boers.  The  native  princes  offered  troops  for  service  in  South 
Africa,  but  they  were  declined,  though  afterward  accepted  for  the 
China  expedition  of  1900.  A  seemingly  curious  counterpart  of 
this  was  the  order  issued  by  Lord  Curzon  in  August,  1900,  requir- 
ing native  princes  to  secure  the  permission  of  the  government  of 
India  to  travel  abroad,  but  it  was  intended  to  hold  to  their  duty 
as  rulers  certain  native  princes  who  neglected  their  people  to 
enjoy  themselves  abroad.  In  1901  the  number  of  troops  from 
the  Indian  establishment  serving  elsewhere  was  1500  natives  in 
Mauritius,  800  natives  and  2100  British  in  Ceylon,  800  natives  in 
Singapore,  600  natives  in  Jubaland,  5200  British  in  South  Africa, 
and  300  British  and  16,300  natives  in  China,  making  a  total  of 


282  INDIA 

1899-1904 

7600  British  and  20,000  natives.  These  have  from  time  to  time 
been  returned  to  India. 

Considerable  reforms  were  undertaken  under  Lord  Curzon 
in  the  system  of  land  revenue  assessments,  as  well  as  special  meas- 
ures to  arrest  agricultural  indebtedness.  Especially  notable  is  the 
Land  Alienation  Act  in  the  Punjab,  by  which  an  endeavor  has  been 
made  to  check  the  evils  of  growing  debt  and  the  consequent  ex- 
propriation of  the  agricultural  population.  Much  industrial  legis- 
lation has  had  the  same  object  of  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the 
poorer  classes;  and  as  administrators  of  a  reasoned  policy,  agri- 
cultural and  financial,  Sir  Denzil  Charles  Jelf  Ibbetson,  who  en- 
tered the  Indian  civil  service  in  1870,  and  Sir  Edward  Law  have 
done  highly  beneficial  work.  A  board  of  scientific  advice  has  also 
been  founded,  and  experiments  in  agricultural  research  and  educa- 
tion have  been  planned  and  inaugurated.  Measures  were  taken  to 
assist  the  indigo  growers  to  meet  the  competition  of  the  artificial 
product  manufactured  in  Germany.  To  assist  the  sugar  growers, 
countervailing  duties  were  levied  on  imports  of  bounty-grown  sugar, 
but  later  these  were  modified  to  conform  with  the  arrangements 
made  by  the  Brussels  Conference  in  1902. 

The  last  five  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  years  of 
almost  unparalleled  misfortune  and  distress  in  India  because  of 
the  plague  and  the  famines.  Early  in  October,  1896,  the  bubonic 
plague  was  certified  to  exist  in  the  Bombay  presidency.  The  bu- 
bonic plague  seems  to  be  identical  with  the  Black  Death  of  the 
fourteenth  century  and  with  the  plague  that  devastated  London  in 
1665,  and  probably  with  the  visitations  of  plague  that  swept  over 
Asia  and  Europe  at  earlier  dates.  It  had  been  endemic  in  several 
restricted  localities,  such  as  certain  districts  of  Mesopotamia,  and 
certain  Himalayan  valleys,  and  for  about  thirty  years  in  some  moun- 
tain villages  in  Yun-nan,  China.  From  these  last  places  it  spread 
in  1894  to  Canton,  where  there  were  50,000  deaths,  and  to  Hong- 
kong, where  it  caused  10,000  deaths.  The  plague  was  studied  by 
the  Pasteur  Institute  and  by  eminent  scientists;  and  a  sterilized 
culture  for  preventive  inoculation  was  discovered  in  1896  by  Walde- 
mar  Mordecai  Wolff  Haffkine,  a  Russian  bacteriological  expert  in 
the  Indian  service,  which  has  been  used  with  considerable  success. 
Several  scientists  have  discovered  serums  for  which  they  have 
claimed  either  a  preventive  or  curative  value,  but  none  of  them 
has  had  even  the  moderate  success  of  Haffkine's  cultures.     The 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  283 

1899-1910 

exact  cause  of  the  disease  has  been  a  matter  of  much  uncertainty, 
though  it  is  certainly  immediately  connected  with  unsanitary  con- 
ditions, and  almost  never  affects  people  who  are  living  under  proper 
sanitary  conditions  and  being  properly  nourished.  The  spread  of 
the  disease  may  be  checked  by  vigorous  sanitary  measures,  as  has 
been  proven  in  the  case  of  the  American  and  European  towns  in 
which  some  cases  have  appeared.  The  way  in  which  the  disease 
enters  the  system  has  never  been  satisfactorily  determined,  but  it 
does  not  seem  to  be  through  food,  nor  does  mere  touch  seem  to 
communicate  the  disease.  Apparently  the  disease  enters  directly 
into  the  blood  through  cuts,  abrasions,  or  bites,  but  this  is  only 
partially  proven.  There  has  been  an  effort  to  associate  the  spread 
of  the  disease  with  rats,  and  while  they  may  be  responsible,  they 
are  not  always  so.  Fleas  have  been  held  responsible,  and  the 
latest  report  concerning  the  investigations  of  the  experts  at  Bom- 
bay lays  the  responsibility  upon  the  rat  fleas. 

In  spite  of  hygienic  precautions,  the  plague  spread  rapidly  in 
the  Bombay  presidency,  and  before  the  close  of  1896  many  of  the 
population  had  fled.  In  1897  and  1898  it  increased  in  Poona  and 
other  parts  of  western  India,  and  the  measures  used  to  disinfect 
dwellings  and  treat  plague  cases  caused  riots  in  several  districts. 
This  opposition  to  the  santiary  measures  of  the  government  reached 
its  height  in  the  murder  at  Poona,  on  June  22,  1897,  °f  Mr.  Rand 
and  Lieutenant  Ayerst.  These  sanitary  measures  conflicted  with 
the  caste  system  and  the  seclusion  of  native  women;  hence  the 
violent  opposition  which  has  caused  the  government  to  make  the 
sanitary  measures  voluntary,  instead  of  compulsory.  The  virulent 
criticism  of  the  government  policy  in  the  native  press  led  to  a 
series  of  sedition  trials  in  1897,  followed  by  the  adoption  of  new 
press  regulations  on  March  12,  1898.  From  the  Bombay  presi- 
dency the  plague  spread  to  other  parts  of  India,  especially  to  the 
Punjab,  Bengal,  and  the  United  Provinces,  and  in  1905  even  to 
Burma.  The  total  number  of  deaths  reported  prior  to  1901  ex- 
ceeded 400,000;  in  1901  there  were  272,000  deaths  from  plague; 
in  1902,  559,602;  in  1903,  853,573;  and  in  I9°4,  M44»9°°-  The 
plague  reached  its  height  in  the  early  months  of  1905,  when  57,702 
deaths  were  reported  for  the  week  ending  April  1.  Since  then 
the  epidemic  seems  to  have  been  wearing  itself  out,  for  the  number 
of  deaths  had  fallen  so  that  for  the  whole  month  of  October,  1905, 
there  were  only  14,296,  the  total  number  of  deaths  from  plague 


284 


INDIA 


1898-1910 

for  1905  was  950,600.  The  prolonged  epidemic  has  made  necessary 
the  rebuilding  of  considerable  portions  of  Bombay,  Calcutta,  and 
other  places  in  a  sanitary  manner.  The  self-sacrificing  work  of 
doctors,  nurses,  ministers  of  religion,  and  officials  has  been  warmly 
eulogized  by  the  government.  The  almost  complete  immunity  of 
these  persons,  who  were  in  direct  and  constant  contact  with  the 
disease,  was  remarkable,  but  it  was  no  doubt  due  to  the  careful 


sanitary  conditions  under  which  they  have  lived  and  to  their  sufficient 
and  proper  nourishment. 

At  the  same  time  India  was  visited  by  a  series  of  most  severe 
famines,  which  affected  several  provinces  of  British  India,  as  well 
as  many  native  states.  In  1896  the  rainfall  was  five  inches  less 
than  the  normal  41  inches;  in  1897  tne  rams  were  generally  suffi- 
cient, and  in  1898  profuse,  but  in  1899  the  deficiency  was  eleven 
inches,  being  the  worst  recorded;   and  in  1900  the  rains  were  once 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  285 

1898-1904 

more  sufficient.  The  result  of  this  fluctuation  in  the  rainfall  was 
a  famine  from  September,  1896,  to  October,  1897,  affecting  310,000 
square  miles  and  35,000,000  people  in  the  United  Provinces  of 
Agra  and  Oudh,  Bengal  and  the  Central  Provinces;  and  another 
lasting  from  September,  1899,  to  November,  1900,  especially  in 
Bombay,  the  Central  Provinces,  and  Rajputana,  affecting  more  than 
400,000  square  miles  and  95,000,000  persons.  In  this  latter  famine 
the  area  affected  was  three  and  one-half  times  that  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  the  population  affected  was  two  and  one-third  times 
as  great.  Relief  was  everywhere  organized,  and  as  many  as  26 
per  cent,  of  the  population  were  in  receipt  of  assistance  during  the 
worst  period  in  some  parts  of  the  country.  At  one  time  more 
than  4,500,000  were  receiving  aid  in  the  five  most  afflicted  prov- 
inces, while  in  all  India  in  June,  1900,  about  6,500,000  persons,  a 
number  equal  to  the  population  of  the  London  metropolitan  police 
district,  were  in  the  relief  camps.  The  cost  to  the  government  of 
the  1897  famine  was  about  17,000,000/.,  and  of  the  1900  famine 
about  13,000,000/.  The  smaller  figures  in  1900  are  due  to  the 
lesser  area  of  British  India  affected,  the  famine  being  most  serious 
in  the  native  states.  In  1897  England  subscribed  liberally  to  the 
Mansion  House  Fund,  but  in  1900  much  less  was  received,  largely 
because  of  the  South  African  War.  In  both  years,  especially  in 
1900,  foreign  countries  subscribed  liberally  to  relief  funds.  In 
1900  the  United  States  government  assigned  a  naval  vessel  to  trans- 
port supplies  to  India.  The  1900  famine  was  the  most  widespread 
recorded  in  Indian  history,  though  not  so  acute  as  the  Orissa 
famine  of  1866,  nor  so  fatal  as  the  terrible  Bengal  famine  of 
1770.  During  the  whole  period,  owing  to  the  strenuous  exertions 
of  the  government,  the  general  mortality  was  less  than  in  previous 
famines,  and  the  distress  more  amply  and  swiftly  relieved.  A  com- 
mission, under  Sir  Anthony  Patrick  MacDonnell,  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of  the  Northwestern  Provinces  and  chief  commissioner  of 
Oudh  from  1895  to  1901,  was  appointed  to  consider  the  whole  cir- 
cumstances, and  they  reported  in  May,  1901,  making  valuable 
suggestions  for  dealing  with  future  periods  of  drought  and 
scarcity. 

The  rains  were  irregular  and  in  some  places  not  only  late 
but  insufficient  in  the  later  months  of  1905,  but  there  was  no  serious 
famine  situation  to  handle,  though  several  hundred  thousand  were 
employed  on  relief  works.     The  number  in  receipt  of  relief,  re- 


286  INDIA 

1898-1904 

ported  on  April  16,  1906,  was  475,000,  mostly  in  Bombay,  A j mere, 
Rajputana,  Central  India  States,  and  the  United  Provinces.  Two 
other  disasters  during  the  viceroyalty  are  to  be  noted.  On  Sep- 
tember 25,  1899,  a  landslip  at  Darjiling  caused  considerable  loss 
of  life,  including  five  children  of  Mr.  Lee,  an  American  mission- 
ary. On  April  4,  1905,  an  earthquake  shock  was  felt  in  north- 
western India.  Most  of  the  damage  was  confined  to  an  area  of 
about  700  square  miles  in  the  Punjab,  where  the  loss  of  property 
was  enormous,  and  15,000  lives  were  lost,  chiefly  at  the  hill  stations 
of  Dharmsala  and  Kangra. 

After  long  consideration  it  was  decided,  at  the  close  of  1901,  to 
create  a  Northwest  Frontier  Province  under  a  chief  commissioner 
directly  subordinate  to  the  government  of  India.  Roughly  speak- 
ing, the  new  province  contains  all  of  the  territory  lying  between 
the  newly  defined  frontier  of  Afghanistan  and  the  upper  course  of 
the  River  Indus,  thus  including  such  former  portions  of  the  Pun- 
jab as  Peshawar,  Kohat,  and  Dera  Ismail  Khan,  and  such  border 
territories  as  Chitral,  Khaibar,  and  Kurram.  It  has  an  area  of 
more  than  16,000  square  miles  and  a  population  of  more  than 
2,000,000,  but  its  important  strategic  position  is  entirely  out  of 
proportion  to  its  size.  The  creation  was  the  occasion  for  the 
declaration  of  a  policy  of  neither  neglecting  nor  crushing  the  fron- 
tier tribes,  but  of  military  concentration  and  tribal  conciliation. 
Military  garrisons  were  withdrawn  from  the  frontier  posts  to  be 
massed  at  the  military  bases,  and  the  tribal  militia  and  levies  were 
welcomed  and  utilized  in  their  place.  The  military  bases  were  at 
the  same  time  connected  with  the  frontier  posts  by  a  system  of 
light  railroads.  The  first  chief  commissioner  of  the  Northwest 
Frontier  Province  is  Lieutenant  Colonel  Harold  Arthur  Deane,  who 
was  born  in  1854  and  entered  the  army  in  1874.  He  served  in 
the  Afghan  war,  on  police  duty  in  the  Andamans  and  Nicobars, 
and  as  a  deputy  commissioner  in  the  Punjab.  In  1895  he  was  the 
political  officer  with  the  Chitral  Relief  Force,  and  remained  as 
resident  and  political  agent  in  Dir,  Swat,  and  Chitral  until  he 
was  appointed  resident  in  Kashmir  in  1900.  He  became  chief  com- 
missioner of  the  Northwest  Frontier  Province  in  1901,  and  was 
knighted  in  1906.  Lord  Curzon's  frontier  policy  is  a  clear  and 
definite  one,  carefully  worked  out  from  the  foundation.  It  is  not 
the  "  forward  policy,"  nor  is  it  "  Lawrence's  policy,"  nor  yet  a 
compromise.     It  is  a  new  policy  created  by  Lord  Curzon,  and  it 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  287 

1898-1904 

has  resulted  in  the  maintenance  of  the  most  satisfactory  condi- 
tions that  have  existed  on  the  frontier  since  the  annexation  of  the 
Punjab. 

In  September,  1901,  the  amir  Abdur  Rahman  of  Afghanistan 
died.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  oldest  son,  Habibulla,  who  had  been 
associated  with  him  in  the  administration  for  some  years  and  who 
began  his  rule  well  by  an  amnesty,  and  showed  a  disposition  to 
maintain  cordial  relations  with  the  British  government.  Troubles 
in  Waziristan  among  the  Mahsud  Waziris,  where  outrages  on 
British  subjects  had  been  constant,  were  met  by  several  small  puni- 
tive expeditions,  but  the  viceroy,  by  measures  of  blockade  followed 
by  retaliatory  sallies,  secured  a  satisfactory  settlement.  This  re- 
gion, however,  still  remains  the  most  unsettled  and  restless  on  the 
frontier. 

The  viceroy's  visit  to  Nepal  in  1901  was  evidence  of  the 
friendly  relations  with  another  neighboring  state  with  which  in 
early  days  there  had  been  war ;  and  of  the  safe  and  quiet  condition 
of  the  northern  frontier,  except  for  the  Tibetan  question,  which 
was  gradually  becoming  a  matter  of  sufficient  importance  to  de- 
mand the  close  attention  of  the  government  of  India. 

In  itself  the  change  of  sovereigns  in  England  in  1901  did  not 
mark  an  historical  epoch,  though  the  event  was  fraught  with  fully 
as  much  importance  for  India  as  for  England.  Victoria,  the  first 
empress  of  India,  closed  her  long  reign  of  more  than  sixty-three 
years  over  the  British  dominions  on  January  22,  1901.  Nowhere 
had  the  expansion  of  the  British  empire  and  the  advancement  of 
British  subjects  under  the  rule  of  the  queen-empress  been  marked 
by  more  valiant  effort,  or  more  splendid  achievement,  than  in 
India,  though  it  must  be  added  that  no  part  of  the  empire  had 
passed  through  such  bitter  trials  and  such  deep  afflictions.  Both 
in  achievement  and  in  affliction  her  Indian  subjects  had  always 
received  the  fullest  sympathy  from  the  empress.  Though  she  had 
never  visited  India,  her  profound  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
people  of  India  had  often  been  manifested,  as  when  in  her  later 
years  she  undertook  to  learn  the  Hindustani  language. 

In  1887  the  queen  had  included  some  native  Indians  among 
her  attendants.  One  of  them,  a  groom  of  the  chamber,  the  munshi 
(interpreter  or  secretary)  Abdul  Karim,  gave  her  lessons  in  Hin- 
dustani, and  she  made  some  progress  in  the  language.  Her  counsel 
and  advice  to  her  subordinates,  the  real  rulers  of  India,  had  been 


288  INDIA 

1898-1904 

marked  by  wisdom  and  an  earnest  desire  to  conserve  the  interests 
and  increase  the  prosperity  of  her  people  in  India.  Nowhere  in 
all  the  countries  which  she  had  ruled  was  there  a  more  genuine 
sorrow,  a  more  profound  sense  of  loss,  than  in  India.  At  a  meet- 
ing in  which  all  classes  and  creeds  were  represented  it  was  decided 
to  commemorate  her  great  services  to  India  by  a  Victoria  Hall 
in  Calcutta,  to  contain  and  concentrate  in  memorial  the  historic 
interests  of  the  different  ages  of  the  past  of  the  great  Indian  em- 
pire. The  cornerstone  was  laid  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  on  January 
4,  1906. 

On  August  9,  1902,  Edward  VII.,  who  when  Prince  of  Wales 
had  visited  India  in  1875,  was  crowned  in  Westminster  Abbey,  in 
the  presence  of  many  Indian  princes  among  the  representatives  of 
the  peoples  united  under  his  sway.  A  contingent  of  Indian  troops, 
representing  almost  every  part  of  the  great  empire,  was  conspicu- 
ous in  the  military  pageants  which  accompanied  the  period  of  re- 
joicing. The  Indian  commemoration,  the  coronation  darbar,  took 
place  at  Delhi  on  January  1,  1903,  when  Edward  VII.  was  pro- 
claimed by  the  viceroy  as  emperor  on  the  same  site  on  which  Lord 
Lytton  had  announced  the  imperial  title  of  Victoria,  just  twenty- 
six  years  earlier.  Over  a  hundred  rulers  of  separate  states,  whose 
united  population  amounted  to  sixty  millions  of  people,  from  the 
Arab  sheiks  of  Aden  on  the  west  to  the  Shan  chiefs  of  the  Mekong 
on  the  east,  were  assembled  to  testify  their  allegiance  to  their  com- 
mon sovereign  in  the  presence  of  his  brother,  Prince  Arthur  Wil- 
liam Patrick  Albert,  the  duke  of  Connaught.  The  viceroy,  speak- 
ing on  behalf  of  the  emperor,  assured  the  princes  and  people  of 
India  that  their  rights  and  liberties  would  be  respected  and  their 
welfare  earnestly  sought  under  his  rule,  which,  he  trusted  would 
bring  to  India  the  benefits  "  of  expanding  industry,  of  awakened 
faculties,  of  increasing  prosperity,  and  of  more  widely  distributed 
comfort  and  wealth."  The  inauguration  of  the  new  reign  was 
marked  not  only  by  ceremonial  pomp  and  grandeur  indicative  of 
the  unity,  vast  extent,  and  abounding  riches  of  the  great  Indian 
empire,  but  also  by  a  considerable  reduction  of  taxes,  which  for 
the  first  time  in  twenty  years  lightened  the  burden  of  the  toiling 
masses  of  the  Indian  people.  The  extra  tax  on  salt,  which  had 
been  added  in  1888,  was  removed,  and  the  amount  of  exemption 
under  the  income  tax  was  increased.  This  reduction  was  the 
natural  result  of  a  large  surplus  revenue  in  the  previous  year,  and 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  289 

1898-1904 

it  has  for  the  present  been  justified,  as  the  budget  still  continues 
to  show  a  surplus. 

England  also  marked  the  opening  century  by  an  act  of  justice 
in  her  dealings  with  India.  Though  England  has  never  taxed 
India  nor  drawn  any  revenue  from  her  for  her  own  profit,  she 
has  compelled  India  to  bear  all  the  expenses  of  her  own  adminis- 
tration, and  has  not  failed  to  extend  that  requirement  to  expendi- 
tures for  purposes  in  which  the  interest  of  India  was,  to  say  the 
least,  uncertain.  The  discussion  aroused  by  this  practice  led  to  the 
appointment  in  1895  of  a  commission  to  consider  the  matter.  In 
consequence  of  its  reports  made  in  1896  and  1900,  it  was  arranged 
that  after  April  1,  190 1,  the  English  government  should  relieve 
the  Indian  government  of  annual  charges  to  the  amount  of  257,- 
500/.,  chiefly  for  the  transport  of  troops  to  India,  for  Aden,  and 
for  diplomatic  expenses  in  Asia.  Though  the  direct  gain  to  India 
was  slight,  the  moral  gain 'was  considerable,  and  it  is  not  likely 
that  India  will  again  be  charged  with  such  items  as  the  Indo- 
Egyptian  expeditions  of  1882  and  1885,  and  the  expenses  of  the 
shah's  visit  to  England.  In  1902  the  expenses  of  the  native  princes 
of  India  in  attending  the  coronation  were  borne  by  England  and 
India  jointly. 

The  disastrous  famines  of  1897  and  1900  emphasized  the  ne- 
cessity of  pushing  with  even  greater  vigor  the  policy  of  internal 
improvements.  Steady  progress  has  been  made  in  the  construction 
of  irrigation  works  in  accordance  with  the  broad  plans  outlined  by 
the  irrigation  commission  under  Sir  Colin  Scott-Moncrieff.  The 
most  important  of  these  undertakings  is  in  the  Punjab,  where 
canals  along  the  upper  Jhelam  and  the  upper  Chenab  and  in  the 
Lower  Ban  doab  will  have  a  combined  length  of  2714  miles  of 
main  canal  and  will  practically  complete  the  possible  development 
of  irrigation  in  the  Punjab.  This  gigantic  undertaking  was  au- 
thorized early  in  1905,  and  will  require  more  than  a  decade  to  com- 
plete, and  will  cost  more  than  $25,000,000.  Both  as  a  protection 
in  case  of  famine  and  for  military  purposes,  the  extension  of  rail- 
roads went  on  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand  miles  a  year  during  Lord 
Curzon's  administration.  America  has  contributed  to  some  extent 
to  this  development,  especially  in  the  construction  of  locomotives 
and  of  bridges. 

The  most  interesting  instance  was  the  construction  in  1900  of 
the  Gokteik  viaduct.     It  is  eighty  miles  northeast  of  Mandalay  on 


290  INDIA 

1898-1910 

the  road  to  the  Shan  Hills,  and  from  the  bottom  of  the  gorge  to  the 
tracks  above  is  820  feet.  The  contract  was  awarded  to  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Steel  Company,  which  underbid  the  English  contractors  and 
was  the  only  bidder  guaranteeing  to  complete  the  work  in  the 
time  required.  J.  C.  Turk  was  sent  to  India  as  engineer  in  charge 
of  construction.  For  ten  months  (February  to  December)  he  and 
his  small  force  of  Americans  with  their  native  helpers  labored  there 
and  the  result  was  the  first  American  bridge  in  the  Indian  empire 
and  the  greatest  viaduct  in  the  world. 

In  the  management  of  the  railroad  system  of  India,  Lord 
Curzon  sought  to  secure  unity  of  direction  and  control,  and  so 
created  a  railroad  board  charged  with  the  general  supervision  of 
Indian  railroads.  The  reckoning  of  time  was  standardized  on  July 
!>  I9°5>  by  fixing  a  uniform  time  for  all  India  five  hours  and  thirty 
minutes  in  advance  of  Greenwich  time,  that  is,  practically  Madras 
time,  and  six  hours  and  thirty  minutes  in  advance  of  Greenwich  for 
Burma,  that  is,  practically  Rangoon  time. 

Lord  Curzon  believed  that  India  possessed  enormous  resources 
which  might  be  developed  if  capital  could  be  obtained.  He  accord- 
ingly sought  to  secure  and  diffuse  knowledge  of  the  country's 
resources,  and  to  improve  the  laws  and  regulations  concerning  min- 
ing and  industry,  so  as  to  attract  capital,  especially  from  England, 
for  investment.  The  mining  laws  were  revised  and  a  special  gov- 
ernment bureau  created  to  deal  with  mining  matters.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1905,  a  mining  institute  was  authorized.  In  1905  one  of  the 
members  of  the  governor-general's  council  was  assigned  to  the  de- 
partment of  commerce  and  industry.  The  commerce  of  India  has 
increased  with  great  rapidity.  The  trade  from  India  to  England 
alone  amounted  in  1907  to  96,042,980/.,  more  than  three  times 
the  amount  in  1857,  the  last  year  under  the  Company,  and  nine- 
fold greater  than  in  1840.  The  increase  in  the  railroad  mileage 
has  been  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  improvement  of  the  pos- 
tal facilities,  and  by  an  even  greater  increase  in  the  amount  of 
mail  matter  carried.  The  telegraph  system  has  been  expanded  with 
double  the  rapidity  of  the  railroad  system,  at  the  rate  of  two  thou- 
sand miles  of  line  a  year,  so  that  there  were  in  1908  68,940  miles 
of  lines,  with  271,944  miles  of  wire.  Wireless  telegraphy  has  been 
introduced,  especially  for  communication  with  the  Andaman 
Islands. 

Since   the   recovery   from    the   famine    in    1900   the   financial 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  291 

1898-1910 

conditions  have  greatly  improved,  and  are  now,  probably,  in  the 
most  satisfactory  condition  that  they  have  been  since  the  crown 
took  control  after  the  Mutiny.  No  small  part  of  this  is  due  to  the 
successful  settlement  of  the  silver  question  in  1899.  Not  only  have 
taxes  been  reduced  for  the  first  time  in  twenty  years,  but  Lord 
Curzon  was  able  to  report  to  the  council  in  the  budget  debate  of 
March,  1905,  that  during  the  preceding  seven  years  taxes  amount- 
ing to  13,000,000/.  had  been  remitted,  and  that  there  is  "now  no 
tax  in  India  which  could  be  called  burdensome  or  oppressive." 
The  1910  budget  shows  no  cessation  of  the  prosperous  conditions. 
Further,  the  government  has  not  only  maintained  the  necessary 
currency  reserve  fund,  now  amounting  to  about  $52,000,000,  but 
has  also  laid  by  a  gold  reserve  which  in  1904  amounted  to 
$35,000,000.  ^ 

In  considering  the  budget  in  1905  plans  were  also  made 
to  secure  elasticity  in  the  collection  of  the  taxes,  by  establishing 
rules  which  should  work  automatically  to  relieve  the  cultivators  of 
the  burden  of  taxation  in  times  of  famine  or  other  calamity  which 
destroyed  or  decreased  his  ability  to  pay  taxes,  instead  of  waiting 
for  the  slow  and  cumbersome  methods  which  had  heretofore 
obtained. 

Results  have  shown  promptly  the  success  of  measures  intended 
for  the  material  welfare  of  India,  but  efforts  no  less  sincere  were 
made  by  Lord  Curzon  to  promote  the  moral  and  social  welfare  of 
the  peoples  of  India,  which  have  not  yet  had  time  to  show  results, 
and  it  will  be  impossible  for  some  time  yet  to  form  any  judgment 
on  the  wisdom  and  value  of  these  efforts.  The  whole  question  of 
education  was  canvassed  by  a  commission,  and  measures  affecting 
every  part  of  the  educational  system  were  enacted  in  1904.  The  ex- 
tension and  improvement  of  primary  education  was  favored,  but  the 
financial  situation  offers  a  serious  hindrance  to  the  development  of  a 
satisfactory  system  of  primary  education.  Higher  education  received 
much  closer  attention,  and  a  Universities  Act  was  passed  to  harmon- 
ize and  unify  the  work  of  the  colleges  and  universities,  and  to  insure 
really  efficient  work  in  the  various  institutions.  The  general  over- 
sight of  the  educational  work  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  director 
general  of  education.  One  of  the  evil  tendencies  in  the  educational 
system  was  removed  by  abolishing  native  competition  for  the  civil 
service  and  selecting  native  civil  servants  henceforth  by  a  proba- 
tionary system.     The  recent  demand  for  improved   facilities  for 


292  INDIA 

1898-1910 

technical  education  has  been  felt  in  India  as  in  other  countries,  and 
the  government  has  made  some  effort  to  meet  the  demands. 

The  investigation  of  the  police  system  resulted  in  the  passage 
of  a  police  reform  act  in  March,  1905.  The  old  system  was  thor- 
oughly discredited,  especially  because  of  the  bad  reputation  borne 
by  the  old  officials.  By  increasing  the  pay  it  was  hoped  to  secure 
a  better  class  of  officials  and  to  remove  from  them*  the  temptation 
to  corruption.  To  a  considerable  extent  the  bill  w'as  apparently 
reactionary  in  character,  for  it  sought  the  revival  of  the  old  village 
community  and  the  imposition  of  the  responsibility  for  the  local 
peace  and  order  upon  the  village  watchman  and  the  villagers.  The 
need  of  police  reform  had  long  been  felt,  but  it  was  neglected  be- 
cause of  the  financial  difficulties,  for  the  new  system  will  require 
an  additional  expenditure  of  about  $5,000,000  annually.  The 
change  had  also  been  long  delayed,  because  viceroys  had  hesitated 
to  touch  such  a  difficult  and  thorny  problem. 

India  has  a  surplus  of  laborers,  while  in  some  of  the  colonies 
of  England  and  other  countries  there  is  a  demand  for  cheap  labor. 
An  effort  has  been  made  to  solve  the  two  problems  by  sending 
indentured  coolies  from  India  to  these  various  colonies.  At  first 
some  were  sent  to  the  French  West  India  colonies,  but  the  arrange- 
ment was  soon  revoked  because  of  a  failure  on  the  part  of  the 
French  employers  to  comply  with  the  terms  of  the  contract  in 
a  reasonable  spirit.  During  the  last  twenty  years  the  only  non- 
English  colony  to  which  coolies  have  been  furnished  has  been 
Dutch  Guiana,  though  some  coolies  do  still  remain  in  the  French 
West  Indies.  The  English  colonies  which  have  received  Indian 
coolies  in  recent  years  have  been  the  Mauritius,  Natal,  British 
Guiana,  British  West  Indies,  Fiji  Islands,  British  East  Africa,  and 
the  Seychelles.  During  the  decade  from  1892  to  1902  the  number 
of  coolie  emigrants  leaving  India  was  174,544  and  the  number 
returning  was  55,059.  Since  1899  the  annual  number  of  emi- 
grants has  been  at  least  thirty  per  cent,  larger  than  before.  The 
government  of  India  now  appoints  a  protector  of  emigrants. 
The  indentures  or  contracts  provide  for  proper  protection  of  the 
emigrant  in  every  way,  for  a  fair  rate  of  wages,  for  good  quarters 
and  proper  medical  attendance,  and  for  a  free  return  to  India.  The 
government  of  India  surpervises  these  contracts  carefully.  No 
doubt  there  are  some  things  about  the  system  that  do  not  meet 
the  approval  of  enlightened  westerners,  but  it  must  be  remembered 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  293 

1898-1910 

that  the  coolie  has  been  accustomed  to  the  Indian  standard  and 
conditions  of  life  and  not  to  English  or  American  standards  and 
conditions,  and  that  when  compared  with  these  latter  standards 
his  condition  may  be  a  bad  one,  but  as  compared  with  conditions 
to  which  he  has  been  accustomed,  he  often  finds  himself  better  off. 
At  least  he  is  guaranteed  shelter,  clothing,  food,  and  medical  at- 
tendance, which  he  would  not  be  sure  of  and  probably  did  not 
have  in  India,  for  it  is  only  as  a  last  resort  that  the  extremely  con- 
servative Hindu  will  consent  to  leave  his  ancestral  home.  Some 
Indians,  after  completing  the  terms  of  their  indenture,  have  re- 
mained as  permanent  settlers  in  the  lands  to  which  they  have  gone. 
Some  of  the  most  enlightened  natives  of  India  have  accepted 
many  of  the  western  ideas  and  have  taken  an  active  interest  in 
the  promotion  among  their  people  of  reforms,  especially  of  a  social 
character,  and  have  undertaken  work  of  charitable  or  educational 
sort.  All  efforts  of  this  kind  have  received  hearty  encouragement 
from  the  government  of  India.  The  native  princes  of  India  have 
been  foremost  in  such  activities,  and  it  is  worth  noting  that  in 
December,  1904,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Indian  Social  Reform  Con- 
gress, the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda,  who  visited  the  United  States  in 
May,  1906,  advocated  the  abolition  of  caste  as  a  necessary  step  in 
the  social  improvement  of  the  people  of  India.  The  government 
has,  however,  carefully  refrained  from  countenancing  any  move- 
ment of  a  political  sort  among  the  natives,  such  as  the  Indian  Na- 
tional Congress.  This  organization  has  met  year  by  year  to 
discuss  Indian  problems,  but  its  character  has  been  semi-political, 
and  most  of  the  discussions  have  been  political  in  character,  and 
their  professed  aims  are  to  secure  political  reforms  and  especially 
a  larger  sphere  of  political  activity  for  natives  of  India.  The 
government  has  never  interfered  with  the  meetings  of  the  Congress, 
which  serves  as  a  sort  of  safety  valve,  but  it  has  withheld  all  rec- 
ognition from  it.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  in  December,  1904, 
Sir  Henry  Cotton,  formerly  chief  commissioner  of  Assam,  and  a 
former  member  of  the  supreme  legislative  council  of  India,  who 
had  acted  as  the  president  of  the  Congress,  sought  an  interview 
with  Lord  Curzon  to  present  a  report  of  the  Congress.  The 
viceroy  declined  to  receive  him  officially,  but  offered  to  receive 
him  personally  as  a  distinguished  retired  Indian  civil  servant.  The 
president  of  the  1905  Congress  was  Mr.  Gokhale  of  Bombay,  one 
of  the  native  members  of  the  supreme  legislative  council.     The 


294  INDIA 

1898-1910 

summary  of  the  political  demands  of  the  natives  given  in  his  ad- 
dress to  the  Congress  shows  the  ambitions  of  the  most  advanced 
and  independent  thinkers  among  the  natives  of  India  to-day. 

Without  doubt  one  of  the  most  important  services  rendered  to 
India  by  Lord  Curzon  was  the  vast  improvement  which  he  secured 
in  the  status  of  the  native  princes  of  India  and  in  the  relations 
between  them  and  the  government  of  India.  He  made  it  his  espe- 
cial duty  to  cut  through  the  endless  mass  of  correspondence  with 
the  princes  and  to  meet  them  personally  and  to  talk  over  every 
question  at  issue,  and  to  inspire  them  with  his  own  activity  and 
zeal  and  high  ideals  of  service  to  the  people  of  India.  Annoying 
and  troublesome  questions,  which  viceroy  after  viceroy  had  hesi- 
tated to  deal  with,  were  taken  up,  and  to  the  surprise  of  old 
Anglo-Indians  easily  settled  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties.  In 
this  way  the  question  of  the  Berars,  or  ceded  districts  of  Haidarabad, 
was  settled  by  leaving  the  regions  in  dispute  henceforth  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  English,  while  the  nizam  of  Haidarabad  received 
a  financial  recompense.  Holkar  of  Indore,  who  had  proved  himself 
entirely  unable  to  rule  in  a  way  satisfactory  to  the  government  of 
India,  was  deposed  and  his  heir  established  in  his  place,  with 
scarcely  a  murmur.  The  maharaja  of  Kashmir,  who  had  been 
deprived  of  some  of  his  independence,  was  brought  into  a  reason- 
able mood,  and  almost  the  last  official  act  of  Lord  Curzon  was  to 
formally  invest  him  once  more  with  his  full  independent  powers. 
In  order  to  entertain  the  native  princes  properly  when  they  made 
official  visits  to  the  viceroy  at  Calcutta,  Lord  Curzon  purchased  the 
house  formerly  occupied  by  Warren  Hastings  at  Calcutta  and  set 
it  aside  as  a  palace  for  visiting  princes. 

Lord  Curzon  has  said  that  one  hour  of  talk  in  dealing  with  the 
native  princes  was  worth  more  than  years  of  formal  correspondence. 
The  results  fully  justified  his  efforts  to  get  in  touch  with  them  and 
to  inspire  them  with  loyalty  to  the  English  power  in  India,  and 
with  the  same  spirit  of  earnest  effort  for  the  advancement  of  India 
and  the  peoples  of  India  which  he  felt.  This  is  shown  in  the 
offers  of  the  princes  to  aid  England  in  South  Africa  and  China,  and 
on  the  northwestern  frontier;  by  the  presence  of  native  princes  at 
the  coronation  of  King  Edward  in  London  and  at  the  coronation 
darbar  at  Delhi;  but  the  most  splendid  testimonial  to  their  appre- 
ciation of  the  work  of  Lord  Curzon  was  at  Indore,  the  very 
capital  of  the  prince  he  had  summarily  deposed,  where  sixty-five 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  295 

1898-1910 

princes  of  central  India  gathered  to  meet  him  and  present  a  fare- 
well address  to  him  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  Bombay  to  leave 
India  in  November,  1905.  Curzon  found  the  native  princes  of 
India  useless  relics  and  expensive  and  troublesome  anomalies;  he 
left  them  the  most  loyal  upholders  of  the  English  power  and  the 
most  faithful  colaborers  with  the  English  government.  It  must 
be  said,  however,  that  the  subjects  of  the  native  princes  are  not 
always  as  loyal  as  their  rulers,  for  they  remember  the  ancient 
independence  and  splendor  of  the  native  rule  without  understanding 
the  changes  which  time  has  wrought,  other  than  the  loss  of  full 
national  independence.  There  is  no  active  disloyalty  and  not  even 
real  discontent  with  the  English  rule  in  India,  though  there  is  a 
group  of  noisy  irreconcilables,  just  as  in  every  country. 

The  frontier  policy  of  Lord  Curzon  as  worked  out  in  the  crea- 
tion of  the  Northwest  Frontier  Province,  and  in  the  withdrawal 
of  English  troops  from  the  advanced  border  posts,  and  in  bring- 
ing the  border  tribesmen  into  sympathy  with  the  government  of 
India  and  intrusting  them  with  the  guardianship  of  the  frontier, 
and  in  enforcing  the  pax  Britannica  along  the  border,  has  proven 
thoroughly  successful.  Since  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab  the 
frontier  had  never  been  quiet,  and  during  the  administration  of 
Lord  Elgin  the  frontier  troubles  had  cost  $22,500,000,  while  under 
Lord  Curzon  the  cost  for  a  longer  period  was  only  $1,250,000. 
The  death  of  the  amir  and  the  succession  of  his  son  was  watched 
with  the  greatest  apprehension.  The  disruption  of  the  amir's 
dominions  or  complications  with  the  English  or  the  Russians  were 
dangerous  possibilities.  The  new  amir  succeeded  his  father  without 
a  noticeable  break  in  the  peaceful  conditions  and  maintained  his 
authority  among  the  Afghans  and  his  relations  with  the  English 
unaltered.  Naturally  questions  had  arisen  since  the  Durand  Treaty 
more  than  a  decade  before,  and  to  settle  these,  as  well  as  to  renew 
with  the  amir  the  arrangements  made  with  his  father,  a  mission 
was  sent  to  Kabul  under  Sir  Louis  Dane  in  the  latter  part  of  1904. 
Several  months  were  spent  at  Kabul  and  the  reception  of  the  mis- 
sion was  more  cordial  than  that  of  Sir  Henry  Durand.  In  the 
meantime  the  amir  sent  his  son,  Inayatulla  Khan,  to  visit  Calcutta 
in  January,  1905.  He  was  royally  welcomed  by  the  viceroy,  and 
every  effort  made  to  render  the  visit  of  the  young  prince  a  memor- 
able one.  The  treaty  signed  by  the  amir  and  Sir  Louis  Dane  at 
Kabul  on  March  21,  1905,  is  very  brief  and  provides  for  a  full  and 


296  INDIA 

1898-1910 

complete  maintenance  of  the  relations  between  the  English  and  the 
amir  as  under  the  former  agreements  with  Abdur  Rahman.  There 
is  absolutely  no  new  provision  and  no  detailed  specification  in  the 
treaty.  This  has  led  to  suspicion  that  the  mission  was  really  a 
failure,  but  that  does  not  at  all  follow.  The  full  renewal  of  the  old 
agreement  and  the  full  and  confidential  discussion  of  all  matters  of 
mutual  interest  would  in  themselves  render  the  mission  a  success, 
even  if  England  secured  no  further  concessions  in  Afghanistan. 
A  complete  mutual  understanding  between  the  government  of 
India  and  the  amir  is  far  more  essential  than  a  few  miles  of  tele- 
graph or  railroad  in  Afghanistan.  The  rumors  of  any  break  in 
the  satisfactory  relations  with  the  amir  are  entirely  without  foun- 
dation, as  are  also  the  rumors  of  a  Russian  mission  to  Afghanistan, 
or  of  a  massing  of  Russian  troops  on  the  Afghan  frontier  during 
the  period  of  the  negotiations.  It  is  true  that  at  present  the  Rus- 
sians have  in  their  Trans-Caspian  Railways  a  line  paralleling  the 
northern  frontier  of  Afghanistan,  and  there  is  a  spur  running  to 
Kushk  on  the  frontier  only  a  short  distance  from  Herat.  The 
English  have  their  lines  in  the  Punjab  and  neighboring  regions 
with  a  railhead  at  Peshawar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Khaibar  Pass,  on 
the  road  to  Kabul ;  and  the  line  to  Quetta  has  been  extended  by  a 
tunnel  under  the  old  Kojah  Pass  to  Chaman  on  the  Afghan  side  of 
the  mountains,  and  only  an  open  plain  lies  between  Chaman  and 
Kandahar.  From  1903  to  1905  a  commission  under  the  direction 
of  Colonel  McMahon  was  employed  in  Seistan  delimiting  and  mark- 
ing the  boundary  between  Persia  and  Afghanistan  and  settling  the 
important  disputed  question  of  international  water  rights,  which 
is  of  great  importance,  owing  to  the  use  of  the  streams  for  irri- 
gation. During  1904-1905  a  British  Indian  commercial  mission 
was  also  employed  in  Persia.  Amir  Habibulla  has  enlarged  and 
improved  his  army,  and  introduced  a  new  system  of  recruiting. 
Though  the  amir  shows*  certain  progressive  tendencies,  he  must  go 
very  slowly  in  order  to  maintain  his  hold  upon  the  suspicious  and 
restless  Afghan  chiefs. 

For  the  first  time  in  years  matters  on  the  northern  frontier 
of  India  demanded  the  attention  of  the  government.  The  southern 
slopes  of  the  Himalayas  are  occupied  by  the  independent  states 
of  Nepal  and  Bhutan,  which  are  nominal  tributaries  of  the  Chi- 
nese empire,  and  which  are  on  friendly  terms  with  the  English. 
Between  these  two  hill  states  lies  the  little  country  of  Sikkim,  which 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  297 

1898-1910 

is  a  semi-independent  tributary  of  both  the  Chinese  and  Indian 
empires.  Questions  between  the  empires  of  India  and  China  con- 
cerning this  little  state  are  of  importance,  because  the  adjoining 
part  of  the  Chinese  empire  is  the  "  forbidden  land  "  of  Tibet,  which 
by  its  refusal  to  have  dealings  with  foreigners  was  preventing  the 
execution  of  the  terms  of  the  treaties  intended  to  settle  the  ques- 
tions which  had  arisen  on  the  border.  The  importance  of  Sikkim 
is  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  the  most  practicable  route  from  India 
to  Tibet  passes  through  it  over  the  Himalayas  into  the  Chumbi 
valley,  which  is  Tibetan  territory,  and  the  slight  trade  between 
India  and  Tibet  was  almost  entirely  by  this  route.  For  the  peace 
of  the  border  and  the  protection  of  Sikkim  it  was  important  for  the 
government  of  India  to  have  the  questions  at  issue  definitely  settled. 
The  dilatory  behavior  of  the  Tibetans  and  the  inability  of  England 
to  enforce  the  treaty  engagements  made  it  obligatory  upon  the 
government  of  India  if  it  wished  to  maintain  its  self-respect  in 
dealing  with  Asiatics  to  effect  a  definite  settlement  and  enforce  it. 
The  action  of  England,  however,  might  have  been  delayed  much 
longer  had  it  not  become  perfectly  clear  that  Russian  agents  were 
at  work  at  Lhasa  and  that  immediate  action  was  necessary  to  block 
the  Russian  schemes,  and  to  prevent  a  power,  whose  interests  might 
be  other  than  friendly,  from  establishing  itself  in  Tibet. 

In  the  spring  of  1903,  accordingly,  Lord  Curzon  endeavored 
to  arrange  for  an  expedition  to  Lhasa,  but  the  government  in  Lon- 
don would  sanction  nothing  of  the  sort.  It  was  accordingly  ar- 
ranged with  the  Chinese  government  that  the  envoys  from  India 
should  meet  the  Tibetan  officials  at  Kamba-jong,  fifteen  miles  be- 
yond the  Sikkim  frontier  in  Tibet,  and  the  Chinese  promised  to 
cooperate  in  the  negotiations.  In  July  Claude  White,  the  English 
political  officer  in  Sikkim,  and  Captain  W.  F.  T.  O'Connor,  the  only 
white  man  who  could  speak  Tibetan  fluently,  established  themselves 
at  Kamba-jong,  in  spite  of  the  official  protests  of  the  Tibetans. 
The  natives,  however,  treated  the  British  officials  in  the  most 
friendly  way,  as  they  did  throughout  the  expedition,  except  when 
driven  by  the  lamaist  hierarchy  to  do  otherwise.  Major  Francis 
Edward  Younghusband  soon  arrived  and  took  charge  of  this 
Tibetan  mission  as  political  officer.  The  stay  at  Kamba-jong  was 
absolutely  fruitless  so  far  as  negotiations  were  concerned,  for  the 
Tibetans  did  not  send  any  accredited  officials  to  represent  them,  and 
only  ordered  the  British  mission  to  withdraw. 


298  INDIA 

1898-1910 

The  futility  of  the  situation  became  apparent  to  even  the  gov- 
ernment in  London,  which  now  grudgingly  acquiesced  in  an  advance 
to  Gyantse  as  the  place  at  which  to  negotiate,  but  again  with  the 
distinct  disclaimer  of  any  intention  of  going  on  to  Lhasa.  It  was 
already  too  late  to  hope  to  reach  Gyantse  before  winter,  so  it  was  ar- 
ranged that  at  the  same  time  the  mission  should  withdraw  from 
Kamba-jong  and  that  a  point  on  the  Chumbi  valley  route  to  Gyantse 
should  be  occupied,  which  was  as  far  within  the  Tibetan  border  as 
Kamba-jong.  Accordingly,  late  in  December,  1903,  Major  Young- 
husband  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Tuna.  During  the  winter 
stores  were  accumulated  and  other  arrangements  made  for  an  ad- 
vance in  the  spring.  This  was  begun  on  March  26,  1904,  when 
Colonel  James  Ronald  Leslie  Macdonald,  in  command  of  the  mili- 
tary escort  of  the  mission,  began  the  advance  from  Chumbi,  and  on 
the  30th  joined  the  mission  at  Tuna.  The  advance  from  there  was 
begun  on  the  following  morning,  but  it  was  soon  halted  by  a  force 
of  Tibetans  who  occupied  the  road  at  Guru.  The  English  attempted 
to  disarm  the  Tibetans  and  to  proceed  without  any  fighting,  but  the 
Lhasan  general  fired  upon  a  Sikh,  and  a  general  fight  ensued,  in 
which  the  Tibetans,  after  severe  losses,  including  the  Lhasan  gen- 
eral, were  repulsed.  The  advance  was  then  continued  without  oppo- 
sition to  Gyantse,  where  the  mission  arrived  on  April  11  without 
having  lost  a  man.  There  the  mission  established  itself  at  Chang- 
lo,  a  short  distance  from  the  town,  and  waited  for  an  opportunity 
to  negotiate. 

The  presence  of  a  considerable  Tibetan  force  on  the  road  be- 
tween Lhasa  and  Gyantse,  at  a  point  from  which  the  British  line 
of  communication  might  easily  be  cut,  led  to  a  fight  at  the  Karo-la 
on  May  6,  in  which  Lieutenant  Colonel  Brander  defeated  and 
scattered  the  Tibetan  force.  This  engagement  was  probably  fought 
at  the  highest  altitude  of  any  military  action  on  record,  17,000  feet 
above  sea-level.  While  Colonel  Brander  was  performing  this  ex- 
ploit, the  Tibetans,  at  the  suggestion  of  Dorjiev,  the  Russian  agent 
at  Lhasa,  made  a  night  attack  on  the  mission  at  Chang-lo,  which  was 
repulsed,  and  the  same  time  seized  Jong,  which  commanded  both 
Gyantse  and  Chang-lo.  This  exploit  of  May  5  showed  that  the 
hope  of  negotiations  at  Gyantse  was  futile  and  that  an  advance  to 
Lhasa  was  inevitable.  In  the  meantime,  however,  Major  Young- 
husband  had  to  defend  himself  at  Chang-lo  until  the  full  military 
escort,  under  Colonel  Macdonald,  should  come  up.     Almost  con- 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  299 

1898-1910 

tinuous  fighting  was  kept  up,  but  the  mission  managed  both  to  main- 
tain its  daily  mail  dispatch  and  its  telegraphic  connections,  for  it 
had  carried  a  wire  along  as  the  advance  had  been  made.  Colonel 
Macdonald  with  his  force  arrived  on  June  26,  and  after  a  few 
days  of  delay,  in  renewed  attempts  at  negotiations,  the  Jong  was 
assaulted  and  captured  on  July  6.  On  July  14  the  advance  from 
Gyantse  to  Lhasa  was  begun.  One  event  of  some  importance  has 
to  be  noted,  and  that  is  the  arrival  in  the  British  camp  at  the  begin- 
ning of  July  of  the  Tongsa  Penlop  of  Bhutan,  who  is  the  actual 
ruler  of  that  country,  as  there  is  at  present  no  Deb  raja.  His  friend- 
ship and  assistance  in  dealing  with  the  Tibetans  was  to  prove  of 
no  small  value. 

The  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Gyantse  to  Lhasa  were  cov- 
ered without  opposition,  though  the  advance  was  made  slowly  and 
the  mission  did  not  reach  Lhasa  till  August  3.  It  was  found  that 
Dorjiev  had  fled  in  May  and  that  the  Dalai  Lama  had  also  recently 
left  Lhasa,  after  having  intrusted  his  seal  to  a  regent,  the  Ti- 
Rimpoche.  The  Nepalese  envoy  at  Lhasa,  as  well  as  the  Tongsa 
Penlop  of  Bhutan,  were  of  valuable  assistance  as  intermediaries,  but 
the  real  negotiations  were  all  conducted  through  the  Amban,  the  Chi- 
nese official  representative  in  Lhasa.  This  scrupulous  respect  for  the 
suzerainty  of  China  was  an  important  factor  in  the  situation,  and  no 
doubt  conduced  to  the  speedy  settlement  of  terms.  The  treaty  was 
signed  in  the  Potala,  the  palace  of  the  Grand  Lama,  on  September  7, 
1904. 

The  treaty  provided  for  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  diffi- 
culties, for  the  opening  of  Yatung  on  the  Sikkim  frontier,  Gyantse, 
and  Gartok  in  western  Tibet  to  British  trade,  and  for  resident  Brit- 
ish agents  at  these  posts,  though  not  at  Lhasa.  Other  commercial 
details  were  regulated.  Careful  provisions  were  made  to  exclude 
all  foreign  influence,  and  to  prohibit  the  granting  of  telegraph,  rail- 
road, mining,  and  other  concessions.  An  indemnity  of  about 
$2,500,000  for  the  ill-treatment  of  the  mission  was  imposed  and  the 
Chumbi  valley  was  to  be  held  in  pawn  until  the  payment  should 
be  completed.  The  English  government  had  given  specific  orders 
that  the  period  should  not  exceed  three  years.  At  the  request  of 
the  Tibetans  the  period  was  extended  to  seventy-five  years.  This 
unauthorized  action  of  Major  Younghusband  was  promptly  dis- 
avowed by  the  British  authorities.  And  although  the  sum  demanded 
represented  only  about  half  the  cost  of  the  mission,  it  was  further 


300  INDIA 

1904-1910 

cut  down  and  the  period  of  three  years  insisted  upon  in  amendment 
to  the  treaty. 

To  be  entirely  valid  the  treaty  required  the  signature  of  China 
as  suzerain  of  Tibet.  This  signature  was  long  delayed,  and  al- 
though a  Chinese  commissioner  spent  some  time  in  Calcutta  during 
1905,  nothing  was  accomplished,  and  he  withdrew  nominally  on 
account  of  his  health.  Negotiations  were  then  transferred  to 
Peking,  and  on  April  27,  1906,  a  treaty  was  signed  by  China  and 
Great  Britain  confirming  the  Tibetan  treaty  as  amended  by  the 
British  government  and  guaranteeing  the  territorial  integrity  of 
Tibet. 

The  policy  of  the  expedition  must  receive  some  notice.  Colonel 
Macdonald,  in  command  of  the  escort,  demurred  at  every  advance 
move,  insisting  that  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  get  such  terms  as 
were  possible  and  to  get  out  of  Tibet  immediately  afterward.  Colo- 
nel Younghusband,  whose  knowledge  and  experience  of  Oriental 
character  is  unrivaled,  insisted  from  the  beginning  that  the  only  sat- 
isfactory conclusion  was  to  dictate  terms  in  Lhasa  itself.  The  gov- 
ernment of  India,  under  Lord  Curzon  and,  during  his  absence  in 
England,  under  Lord  Ampthill,  was  one  of  full  cooperation  with 
Colonel  Younghusband.  The  government  in  London  had  as  foreign 
secretary  Lord  Lansdowne,  whose  years  of  service  as  viceroy  should 
have  made  him  hesitate  to  sacrifice  British  interests  in  the  Tibetan 
question  to  other  phases  of  England's  foreign  policy,  and  have 
made  him  refrain  from  gratuitous  guarantees  to  Russia  that  Eng- 
land would  limit  her  activities  in  Tibet  to  the  minimum.  The 
secretary  for  India  was  Mr.  Brodrick,  whose  treatment  of  Indian 
questions  has  left  much  to  be  desired.  His  disavowal  of  the  in- 
demnity clause  in  the  treaty  and  his  reprimand  of  Major  Young- 
husband revealed  his  absolute  ignorance  of  the  conditions  of  the 
problem  and  a  woeful  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  value  of  the 
major's  achievement  to  the  government  of  India.  The  knowledge 
acquired  by  the  expedition  confirmed,  if  that  were  necessary,  the 
judgment  of  Lord  Curzon  that  the  expedition  was  essential  to  the 
safety  of  the  Indian  empire,  for  the  real  natural  defense  of  India 
on  this  side  is  not  the  Himalayas,  but  the  broad  extent  of  desert 
lying  between  Lhasa  and  the  Siberian  frontier.  Furthermore,  once 
it  had  been  decided  to  take  up  the  question,  the  handling  of  it  by 
the  government  in  London  deserves  nothing  but  blame.  Colonel 
Younghusband  and  the  men  who  worked  with  him,  such  as  Claude 
White,  Mr.  Wilton,  Captain  O'Connor,  and  others,  deserve  the 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  301 

1904-1910 

highest  praise  for  an  achievement  of  the  most  splendid  sort.  The 
triumph  over  all  of  the  physical  difficulties,  the  diplomatic  success, 
and  the  vast  extension  of  knowledge  concerning  the  "  forbidden 
land  "  will  make  the  expedition  one  memorable  in  the  annals  of  the 
British  in  India. 

It  remains  to  note  that  the  expedition  resulted  in  discrediting 
the  Dalai  Lama  entirely.  After  his  flight  the  political  blunders  of 
the  Lama  were  obvious,  and  the  fact  that  he  had  persisted  in  his 
policy,  under  the  influence  of  Dorjiev,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of 
the  Amban  and  of  the  lamaist  hierarchy,  contributed  to  a  feeling 
of  relief  at  his  departure.  His  life  at  Urga,  whither  he  fled,  made 
notorious  his  discreditable  immorality.  The  result  was  that  there 
was  no  protest  heard,  when  on  September  n,  1904,  the  Amban 
at  Lhasa  solemnly  announced  the  deposition  of  the  Dalai  Lama  at 
the  order  of  the  emperor  of  China  and  the  recognition  of  the 
Tashi  Lama  of  Shigatse  as  the  spiritual  head  of  lamaism.  The 
visit  of  Captain  O'Connor  to  the  Tashi  Lama  on  his  return  from 
Lhasa,  and  later  the  visit  of  the  Tashi  Lama  to  India  in  Decem- 
ber, 1905,  and  January,  1906,  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  and  to  make  pilgrimage  to  Buddhist  shrines  in  India,  have 
confirmed  the  good  relations  between  India  and  Tibet.  The  po- 
litical control  of  Tibet  seems  to  be  really  in  the  hands  of  the  abbots 
of  the  three  great  monasteries  at  Lhasa,  headed  by  the  Ti-Rim- 
poche,  or  regent,  and  their  attitude  toward  all  foreigners  is  one 
of  uncompromising  hostility.  Their  treaty  with  Colonel  Young- 
husband  was  grudgingly  made  by  them,  and  also  perhaps  largely 
out  of  resentment  for  the  pro-Russian  policy  of  the  fugitive  Dalai 
Lama.  It  is  fairly  obvious  that  the  English  can  expect  little  better 
than  indifference  from  this  Lhasan  hierarchy,  but  the  people  of 
Tibet,  who  evidently  do  not  relish  the  rule  of  the  hierarchy  any 
more  than  the  people  of  the  Papal  States  did  that  of  the  Roman 
hierarchy  in  the  nineteenth  century,  always  behaved  with  the  great- 
est friendliness  toward  the  British,  and  their  treatment  by  the  mis- 
sion cannot  help  remaining  to  them  a  pleasant  incentive  to  friend- 
ship. The  Dalai  Lama  seems  to  have  been  the  center  of  some 
intrigues  at  Urga,  and  possibly  the  Chinese  have  wished  to  restore 
him,  but  at  present  his  existence  is  a  cause  of  some  anxiety  to  the 
parties  concerned;  his  demise  will  be  a  relief  to  the  situation 
and  it  will  not  be  surprising  if  the  Chinese  manage  to  put  him  out 
of  the  way. 


302  INDIA 

1904-191O 

Some  of  the  aftermath  of  the  expedition  to  Lhasa  has  been 
important.  The  mission  left  Lhasa  on  September  23  and  reached 
India  in  October.  A  small  detachment  under  Major  C.  H.  D. 
Ryder,  and  including  Captain  O'Connor,  went  to  visit  the  Tashi 
Lama  at  Shigatse  and  then  explored  the  upper  course  of  the 
Tsang-po  or  Brahmaputra  River,  and  crossed  the  divide  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Indus  and  the  Sutlej,  and  finally  reached  Simla  in 
January,  1905.  This  expedition  thus  effected  an  important  exten- 
sion of  geographical  knowledge.  The  Tongsa  Penlop  of  Bhutan 
was  rewarded  for  his  services  by  receiving  knighthood  in  the 
Order  of  the  Indian  Empire  in  January,  1905,  and  the  decoration 
was  conferred  by  Claude  White,  the  political  officer  in  Sikkim,  who 
paid  a  visit  to  Panakha,  the  capital  of  Bhutan,  for  that  purpose. 
The  friendly  relations  with  these  border  countries  between  India 
and  Tibet  was  shown  by  the  visit  of  the  maharaja  of  Sikkim  and 
the  Tongsa  Penlop  to  Calcutta  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  Prince 
of  Wales  in  January,  1906,  in  company  with  the  Tashi  Lama. 

As  already  noted,  Lord  Curzon  was  absent  from  India  during 
the  crisis  in  the  Tibetan  negotiations.  His  term  expired  and  he  left 
India  on  April  30,  1904,  and  was  appointed  lord  warden  of  the 
Cinque  Ports  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Walmer  Castle  upon  his 
arrival  in  England.  It  was  finally  decided  to  reappoint  him,  but  his 
return  to  India  was  for  some  weeks  delayed  by  the  serious  illness  of 
Lady  Curzon.  As  soon  as  her  convalescence  warranted  the  viceroy 
set  out  alone  for  India,  where  he  arrived  on  December  13.  During 
his  absence  the  acting  governor-general  was  Arthur  Villiers  Russell, 
Baron  Ampthill,  the  governor  of  Madras,  who  acquitted  himself 
of  the  difficult  task  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  all  parties. 

Serious  problems  faced  Lord  Curzon  upon  his  return,  in  ad- 
dition to  his  various  measures  of  reform  which  he  was  constantly 
endeavoring  to  initiate.  One  of  the  most  difficult  of  these  was  the 
Bengal  question.  In  1874  Bengal  had  become  too  large  to  be 
administered  as  a  single  unit,  and  certain  districts  were  set  off  as 
the  chief  commissionership  of  Assam.  This  measure,  which  caused 
an  outcry  at  the  time,  thoroughly  justified  itself.  It  soon  became 
apparent  that  the  problem  had  only  been  touched  instead  of  being 
definitely  solved.  Successive  lieutenant-governors  continued  to 
find  the  burden  of  administering  the  province  of  Bengal  not  only 
too  heavy,  but  an  increasingly  heavy  burden.  Certain  conditions 
pointed  to  the  extension  of  Assam  to  include  the  eastern  districts 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  308 

1905-1910 

of  Bengal  as  the  best  solution  of  the  matter.  After  being  under 
official  consideration  for  many  months  the  decision  was  finally 
announced  in  the  summer  of  1905,  and  on  October  16  the  prov- 
ince of  Eastern  Bengal  and  Assam  came  officially  into  existence. 
It  embraces,  in  addition  to  the  native  states  of  Manipur  and 
Hill  Tipperah,  which  lie  within  its  borders,  the  former  province 
of  Assam  and  the  Chittagong,  Dacca,  and  Rajshahi  divisions  of 
Bengal.  Its  capital  is  located  at  Dacca.  The  administration  is 
under  a  lieutenant-governor  with  a  legislative  council  and  board 
of  revenue,  though  the  jurisdiction  of  the  high  court  of  Calcutta 
is  to  continue  to  extend  over  the  new  province.  The  chief  com- 
missioner of  Assam,  J.  B.  Fuller,  became  lieutenant-governor  of 
the  enlarged  province.  At  the  same  time  certain  rectifications  of 
the  southwestern  boundary  of  Bengal  were  also  effected  by  the 
transfer  of  certain  hill  states  from  Chutia  Nagpur  to  the  Central 
Provinces  in  exchange  for  Sambalpur,  which  was  included  in  Ben- 
gal, because  the  language  of  the  district  made  its  administration  by 
the  Central  Provinces  difficult,  while  in  Bengal  it  was  a  simple 
matter,  as  the  language  was  the  same  as  that  of  Orissa.  The  new 
province  contains  a  population  of  about  31,000,000,  of  whom  18,000,- 
000  are  Mohammedans  and  12,000,000  are  Hindus,  thus  according 
some  recognition  to  the  predominance  of  Mohammedans  in  the 
eastern  districts,  whereas  they  had  been  an  overlooked  minority  in 
the  old  province. 

The  diminished  province  of  Lower  Bengal  now  has  about 
50,722,067  population,  of  whom  42,540,359  are  Hindus  and 
9,208,191  Mohammedans.  It  should  be  noted  that  there  is  no 
racial  or  linguistic  differentiation  between  the  two  provinces, 
and  this  gave  rise  to  a  loud  outburst  of  Bengali  patriotism 
against  the  partition  of  their  country.  There  was  as  little  reason 
for  this  outcry  as  there  would  be  for  patriotic  objections  to  the 
division  of  an  American  county  for  administrative  convenience. 
In  fact,  events  showed  that  a  large  part  of  the  outcry  was  due  to 
interested  parties  in  Calcutta,  who  had  profited  by  the  diversion  of 
the  trade  of  the  eastern  districts  to  Calcutta,  which  would  more 
naturally  have  passed  to  Chittagong,  and  they  now  feared  that  the 
creation  of  the  new  province  would  result  in  the  revival  of  the 
trade  of  Chittagong  at  the  expense  of  Calcutta.  To  this  it  is  only 
necessary  to  reply  that  Chittagong  is  as  good  a  harbor  as  Calcutta, 
if  not  a  better  one,  and  that  it  is  the  natural  outlet  of  the  new 


304  INDIA 

1905-1910 

province,  and  that  if  Calcutta  had  profited  by  the  trade  in  the  past, 
she  was  now  only  losing  what  she  had  unfairly  enjoyed.  To  the 
people  of  the  new  province  the  change  cannot  prove  otherwise  than 
a  blessing,  for  it  will  insure  them  a  careful  oversight  from  the 
administration  in  place  of  the  unavoidable  neglect  of  the  past,  and 
it  will  no  doubt  result  in  the  revival  of  Dacca  and  Chittagong  to 
at  least  their  old-time  importance.  While  there  may  be  some  falling 
off  in  the  trade  of  Calcutta,  it  is  probable  that  the  result  will  in 
other  matters  be  entirely  to  the  advantage  of  the  diminished  prov- 
ince as  well. 

The  agitation  of  the  Bengalis  over  the  partition  has  been  the 
most  notable  manifestation  yet  witnessed  of  political  activity  on 
the  part  of  the  natives,  and  especially  of  the  educated  natives  of 
India.  The  Indian  National  Congress  has  been  more  or  less 
academic  in  character,  but  here  was  a  practical  question,  and  the 
Bengalis  made  an  effort  to  have  the  Congress  take  it  up  in  an 
effective  way.  For  some  time  there  had  been  on  the  part  of  the 
government  an  effort  to  encourage  native  industry,  which  had  been 
taken  up  with  some  vigor  by  the  natives.  The  Bengalis  seized 
upon  this  as  an  easy  tool  for  their  purpose,  and  the  swadeshi  or 
"  own  country  things  "  movement  was  turned  into  a  popular  agita- 
tion against  English  goods.  The  result  was  serious  loss  to  mer- 
chants dealing  in  English  goods,  while  the  merchants  handling 
native  goods  profited  largely  and  unexpectedly.  In  December, 
1905,  the  Bengalis  were  active  at  the  session  of  the  Indian  National 
Congress,  and  a  resolution  against  the  so-called  partition  of  Bengal 
was  carried,  and  another  in  favor  of  the  use  of  native  goods;  but 
the  Bengali  effort  to  combine  the  two  into  a  political  boycott  of 
English  goods  was  defeated.  Lord  Curzon  and  other  officials  also 
broke  the  power  of  the  movement  by  constantly  announcing  their 
belief  in  swadeshi  in  so  far  as  it  meant  a  use  of  native  goods  and 
an  encourgement  of  native  industry,  but  they  denounced  it  when 
perverted  into  a  boycott  of  English  goods. 

A  gratuitous  reference  to  the  question  in  the  dispatch  of  Brod- 
rick  on  Lord  Curzon's  resignation  gave  new  zeal  to  the  agitators, 
but  the  new  viceroy,  Lord  Minto,  and  the  new  secretary  of  state 
for  India,  John  Morley,  have  upheld  Lord  Curzon's  measure,  and 
it  is  now  in-  operation,  with  the  full  support  of  all  the  authorities. 

Unfortunately  for  Lord  Curzon,  and  for  India,  his  second  term 
was  destined  to  come  to  an  early  end  under  conditions  of  the  most 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  305 

1905-1910 

regrettable  sort.  Lord  Curzon  had  always  given  his  full  support 
to  every  effort  to  improve  England's  position  in  India,  and  that 
included  the  condition  of  the  army  and  the  question  of  the  military 
defense  of  India.  The  commander-in-chief  since  1902  was  Horatio 
Herbert  Kitchener,  the  ablest  of  the  younger  generals  in  the  Eng- 
lish army. 

Lord  Kitchener  was  born  in  County  Kerry,  Ireland,  in  1850, 
and  was  educated  at  Woolwich.  He  entered  the  Royal  Engineers  in 
1 87 1.  He  served  on  the  Palestine  Survey  from  1874  to  1878,  and  on 
the  Cyprus  Survey  from  1878  to  1882.  He  served  in  Egypt  from 
1882  to  1899,  being  sirdar  of  the  Egyptian  army  from  1890  to  1899. 
He  was  chief  of  staff  to  Lord  Roberts  in  South  Africa  from  1899 
to  1900,  and  succeeded  Lord  Roberts  as  commander-in-chief  in 
South  Africa  from  1900  to  1902.  Since  1902  he  has  been  com- 
mander-in-chief in  India.  He  was  knighted  in  1894  and  created 
Baron  Kitchener  of  Khartoum  in  1898,  and  Viscount  Kitchener 
of  Khartoum  in  1902.  He  is  a  man  of  strong  personality,  and  a 
military  man  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term.  Administrative 
delays  annoyed  him  in  his  handling  of  army  questions,  and  appar- 
ently the  secretariat  of  the  military  department  took  no  pains  to 
secure  prompt  action.  Apparently,  also,  General  Sir  Edmond  Elles, 
the  military  member  of  the  governor-general's  council,  and  there- 
fore the  head  of  the  military  department,  was  not  inclined  to  modify 
his  own  or  the  departmental  policy,  and  act  at  the  dictation  of 
General  Kitchener.  Brodrick,  the  secretary  of  state  for  India, 
was  pitifully  incompetent  to  deal  with  two  such  brilliant  and  able 
subordinates  as  Lord  Curzon  and  Lord  Kitchener  in  such  a  way 
as  to  harmonize  their  relations  and  to  retain  the  services  of  both 
for  the  empire. 

The  question  of  army  administration  seems  to  have  been  a 
subject  of  prolonged  discussion  between  the  viceroy,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief, and  the  secretary  of  state,  and  Lord  Curzon  re- 
turned to  India  after  discussion  of  the  question  with  the  authorities 
in  London,  so  that  he  felt  that  in  permitting  him  to  return  to  India 
as  viceroy,  they  agreed  with  and  would  support  his  views.  This 
did  not  prove  to  be  the  case,  and  in  June,  1905,  the  secretary  of 
state  published  a  blue  book  of  the  correspondence,  together  with 
the  arrangement,  to  which  he  now  gave  his  sanction.  This  was  a 
compromise,  but  one  so  clearly  in  favor  of  the  commander-in-chief 
that  General  Elles  at  once  resigned  as  military  member  of  council. 


306  INDIA 

1905-1910 

The  details  of  the  plan  were  indefinite,  and  after  further  corre- 
spondence Lord  Curzon  felt  that  the  statements  of  the  secretary 
of  state  were  so  sufficiently  in  accord  with  his  ideas  that  he  could 
accept  the  plan.  That  this  was  a  misunderstanding  at  once  became 
clear  when  Lord  Curzon  suggested  General  Sir  Edmund  George 
Barrow  as  the  new  military  supply  member  of  his  council.  This 
proposal  was  at  once  negatived  by  Brodrick,  and  after  an  inter- 
change of  telegrams,  Lord  Curzon,  who  was  then  on  a  sick  bed, 
telegraphed  his  resignation  on  August  12,  1905.  A  few  days 
later  the  news  of  the  resignation  and  its  acceptance  was  published, 
and  the  appointment  of  Lord  Minto  to  succeed  as  viceroy  was 
announced. 

Under  the  old  system  the  commander-in-chief  was  an  ex- 
traordinary member  of  the  governor-general's  council,  but  not  the 
head  of  an  administrative  department.  The  military  member  of 
council  occupied  a  position  as  head  of  the  military  administration 
department  corresponding  to  the  American  secretary  of  war,  but 
his  relations  to  the  commander-in-chief  were  made  much  more  deli- 
cate by  the  fact  that  he  was  a  ranking  subordinate  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief, and  in  recent  years  had  been  selected  from  the 
higher  ranks,  and  so  was  a  man  who,  in  case  of  war,  might  be 
called  to  assume  important  command.  His  position  was  not  only 
that  of  a  secretary  of  war,  but  also  of  a  general  of  high  rank  in 
the  army  and  the  expert  military  adviser  of  the  governor-general. 
Obviously,  unless  the  military  member  were  in  absolute  accord 
with  the  commander-in-chief,  the  latter  would  find  the  situation 
annoying  and  irksome.  This  fact,  plus  the  soldier's  hatred  of  red 
tape,  will  explain  the  reason  for  Lord  Kitchener's  attitude.  Lord 
Curzon,  on  the  other  side,  supported  by  the  members  of  the  coun- 
cil, felt  the  political  and  constitutional  difficulties.  There  must 
be  one,  and  only  one,  responsible  head,  and  obviously  that  must 
be  the  viceroy,  and  not  the  commander-in-chief.  Therefore,  the 
viceroy  must  have  advice  on  military  matters  from  other  qualified 
individuals  besides  the  commander-in-chief,  so  that  he  might  act 
wisely  concerning  them,  not  only  from  the  point  of  view  of  army 
organization  and  methods,  but  also  as  concerned  the  matters  of 
finance  and  the  general  adjustment  of  the  army  to  the  rest  of  the 
state  administration.  Naturally  the  viceroy  wished  to  retain  the 
military  member  of  council  as  his  war  minister.  In  the  same  way 
the  commander-in-chief  felt  that  the  union  in  his  person  of  the 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  307 

1905-1910 

duties  of  his  own  position  and  that  of  the  military  member  would 
redound  to  the  advantage  of  the  army  in  giving  a  completely  unified 
control. 

The  secretary  of  state  for  India  naturally  and  rightly  at- 
tempted a  compromise,  but  bungled  the  affair  and  showed  a 
conspicuous  lack  of  tact.  As  finally  worked  out,  the  present 
arrangement  makes  the  commander-in-chief  a  regular  member  of 
council  and  the  head  of  what  is  called  the  army  department,  with  a 
secretarial  staff  exactly  corresponding  to  the  other  administrative 
departments ;  and  various  functions  formerly  belonging  to  the  mili- 
tary member  and  his  department  are  transferred  to  the  commander- 
in-chief  and  the  army  department.  Instead  of  the  military  member 
with  his  department  there  is  now  a  military  supply  member,  the 
head  of  the  department  of  military  supply,  with  the  usual  secre- 
tarial staff.  As  the  name  indicates,  the  military  supply  member 
and  his  department  retain  only  a  small  part  of  the  functions 
formerly  pertaining  to  the  military  member,  but  the  viceroy  dis- 
tinctly reserved  the  privilege  of  requiring  general  military  advice 
of  the  military  supply  member.  No  doubt  Lord  Kitchener  would 
have  wished  to  make  the  position  of  military  supply  member  a 
civilian's  post,  and  to  have  had  the  organization  of  his  own  depart- 
ment more  under  his  direct  and  sole  control  than  will  be  possible 
with  its  organization  on  the  same  basis  as  the  other  departments. 
It  is  not  likely  that  Lord  Kitchener  will  find  the  new  viceroy  less 
careful  of  his  full  constitutional  privileges  than  Lord  Curzon, 
though  in  a  different  way.  Because  the  liberals,  when  out  of 
power,  had  attacked  Brodrick's  handling  of  the  situation,  it  was 
expected  by  some  that  the  new  liberal  secretary  of  state  for  India, 
Morley,  would  abandon  Brodrick's  scheme,  but  he  has  not  done 
so,  and  has  only  sought  to  secure  some  slight  readjustments  in 
the  settling  of  details  which  had  not  already  been  arranged. 
Morley's  speech  on  the  subject  in  parliament  showed  no  sympathy 
for  Lord  Curzon  or  his  administration,  and  Lord  Curzon  replied 
by  a  letter  in  the  London  Times  declaring  the  new  army  administra- 
tive system,  even  after  the  adjustments  made  by  Morley,  unwork- 
able, and  fraught  with  serious  danger  to  India. 

The  whole  affair  was  a  regrettable  incident,  and  neither  Lord 
Curzon  nor  Lord  Kitchener  behaved  with  complete  poise  and  tact 
in  the  matter.  The  dispute  between  the  two  chief  officers  of  the 
Indian  empire  was  in  itself  a  sorry  spectacle  to  present  to  the  people 


308  INDIA 

1905-1910 

of  India,  and  the  blunder  of  publishing  the  dispatches  with  all  of 
their  recriminations  was  inexcusable.  It  seems  clear  that  some 
reforms,  in  the  direction  actually  taken,  were  needed  for  the  good 
of  the  service;  and  the  pity  is  that  they  could  not  have  been 
secured  and  at  the  same  time  the  splendid  abilities  of  both  Lord 
Curzon  and  Lord  Kitchener  retained  for  the  empire.  In  view  of 
the  outcome,  it  is  a  matter  for  regret  that  Lord  Curzon  returned 
to  India  for  a  second  term,  for  the  added  months  in  India  were 
marked  by  the  unpopular  but  necessary  partition  of  Bengal,  which 
might  almost  be  compared  with  Lord  Dalhousie's  annexation  of 
Oudh,  and  by  the  scandal  of  the  army  quarrel.  For  the  present, 
at  least,  these  two  events  seriously  dim  the  splendor  of  the  great 
achievements  of  his  first  term  as  viceroy.  No  viceroy  ever  strove 
with  greater  zeal  to  serve  India,  and  none  ever  had  a  fuller  under- 
standing of  India's  needs.  In  tactfulness  he  was  deficient,  and 
his  frankness  of  speech  at  times  amounted  to  indiscretion.  He  was 
not  a  popular  viceroy,  though  the  army  quarrel  did  result  in  a 
certain  revulsion  of  feeling  in  his  favor,  but  the  value  of  much 
of  his  work  has  been  recognized  by  all.  Since  his  resignation  it 
has  been  the  wont  of  writers  to  call  him  the  greatest  viceroy  since 
Dalhousie.  It  does  seem  that  he  is  to  be  reckoned  among  the 
very  limited  number  of  India's  greatest  rulers.  Many  years  must 
elapse  before  a  full  and  fair  judgment  upon  the  man  and  his  work 
will  be  possible,  for  at  present  it  is  impossible  not  only  to  get 
the  necessary  perspective,  but  even  to  obtain  full  and  accurate 
knowledge  of  some  of  the  most  important  events  of  his  adminis- 
tration. It  is  not  likely  that  time  will  set  aside  his  own  judgment 
of  his  work  as  "  not  of  aggression,  but  of  consolidation  and  re- 
straint. It  is  enough  for  me  to  guard  what  we  have  without 
hankering  for  more." 

During  Lord  Curzon's  administration  occurred  a  group  of 
events  fraught  with  the  greatest  importance  to  the  position  of  the 
British  in  India.  In  India  were  the  frightful  disasters  of  plague 
and  famine;  in  England  occurred  the  death  of  the  queen,  and 
within  the  empire  the  South  African  war;  abroad  the  death  of 
the  amir,  the  Boxer  rising  in  China,  and  the  Russo-Japanese  war 
were  events  of  the  deepest  significance  for  India.  Such  was  the 
combination  of  these  events,  that  at  several  times  during  the  admin- 
istration of  Lord  Curzon,  the  natives  of  India,  had  they  desired  to 
rebel,  would  have  found  England  in  a  position  of  the  greatest 


UNDER     BRITISH     CROWN  309 

1905-1910 

embarrassment  and  difficulty.  Not  only  was  there  no  sign  of 
disloyalty,  but  numerous  uncalled-for  and  unmistakable  manifesta- 
tions of  loyalty  to  the  British  government  in  India.  The  behavior 
of  India,  therefore,  during  the  administration  of  Lord  Curzon  may 
be  taken  as  the  best  answer  concerning  the  attitude  of  the  natives  of 
India  toward  the  rule  of  the  British,  and  as  to  the  security  of 
English  rule  in  the  great  peninsula. 

It  was  exceedingly  fortunate  that  the  visit  of  the  Prince  and 
Princess  of  Wales  to  India  had  been  arranged  for  the  cool  season 
of  1905-1906,  for  it  came  just  at  a  time  when  something  was 
needed  to  divert  the  minds  of  all^  and  especially  the  natives,  from 
the  regrettable  incident  of  the  army  quarrel.  The  prince  and 
princess  arrived  at  Bombay  on  board  the  Renown  on  November 
9,  1905,  the  anniversary  of  the  king's  birth.  The  privilege  of 
welcoming  them  was  accorded  to  Lord  Curzon  as  his  last  function 
in  India.  A  few  days  later,  on  November  18,  Lord  Minto,  the 
new  viceroy,  arrived,  and  Lord  Curzon  introduced  him  to  the 
people  of  India  as  "  a  viceroy  of  ripe  experience,  strong  sense  of 
duty,  sound  judgment,  and  great  personal  charm."  On  the  same 
day  Lord  Curzon  embarked  from  Bombay  for  England.  Gilbert 
John  Murray  Kynynmound  Elliot  is  a  descendant  of  the  first  earl 
of  Minto,  who  was  governor-general  of  India  from  1807  to  1813, 
and  was  born  in  1847,  and  succeeded  as  fourth  earl  of  Minto  in 
1 89 1.  He  was  educated  at  Eaton  and  Cambridge.  He  served 
in  the  Turkish  army  in  1877  and  in  the  Afghan  war  in  1879.  He 
was  secretary  to  Lord  Roberts  in  South  Africa  in  1881,  and  served 
in  Egypt  in  1882.  He  was  military  secretary  to  Lord  Lansdowne 
in  Canada  from  1883  to  1885,  and  was  governor-general  of  Canada 
from  1898  to  1904. 

During  their  tour,  extending  from  their  arrival  at  Bombay  on 
November  9,  1905,  to  their  departure  from  Karachi  on  March  19, 
1906,  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  his  wife  were  welcomed  every- 
where in  the  most  royal  manner,  and  their  tour  was  a  source  of 
gratification  to  themselves,  to  the  people  of  India,  and  to  the 
British  government.  The  wide  experience  of  Sir  Walter  Law- 
rence as  private  secretary  for  Lord  Curzon  fitted  him  admirably 
for  the  duty  of  attending  upon  the  prince  during  the  tour.  The 
importance  of  Lord  Curzon's  policy  in  dealing  with  the  native 
princes  was  emphasized  by  the  prolonged  visits  made  to  all  of  the 
most  important  of  the  native  rulers.     Every  section  of  the  empire 


310  INDIA 

1905-1910 

was  visited.  Mysore,  in  the  extreme  south,  and  Darjiling  and 
Simla  in  the  foothills  of  the  Himalayas,  Mandalay  in  Burma,  and 
Jammu  in  Kashmir,  Landi  Kotal  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Khaibar 
Pass,  and  Quetta  in  Baluchistan  show  that  the  visit  extended  to 
the  farthest  borders  of  the  empire.  This  not  only  illustrated  the 
extension  and  increased  security  of  the  empire,  but  also  the  vast 
extension  of  the  railroad  systems  since  the  visit  of  the  prince's 
father  exactly  thirty  years  before.  The  demonstrations  of  loyalty 
which  greeted  the  prince  were  a  touching  testimonial  of  the  native 
appreciation  of  the  British  rule,  and  a  pleasant  augury  for  the 
administration  of  the  new  viceroy. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Indian  National  Congress  in  December, 
1906,  the  discussions  were  even  more  anti-British  than  they  had 
been  the  year  before.  Serious  signs  of  unrest  began  to  develop  in 
Eastern  Bengal  and  the  Punjab,  and  at  the  National  Congress  in 
1907  the  election  of  a  president  was  accompanied  by  so  much  sedi- 
tious talk  and  violence  that  the  Congress  was  adjourned.  Two 
political  parties  had  been  formed :  the  Moderates,  who  wanted  a 
form  of  colonial  self-government  similar  to  that  of  Canada  and 
Australia,  and  the  Extremists,  who  desired  independence.  The 
majority  of  the  members  wished  to  employ  only  constitutional 
means  for  the  attainment  of  greater  freedom. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1907,  Sir  James  Willcocks  led  a  primitive 
expedition  against  the  Zakka  Khels,  an  Afridi  tribe;  although  this 
expedition  was  successful  there  was  trouble  with  the  tribes  on 
the  Mohmand  border  early  in  1908.  In  April  Sir  James  Willcocks 
again  took  the  field  and  he  was  aided  by  the  amir  of  Afghanistan, 
who  had  previously  ordered  his  rebellious  subjects  to  lay  down 
their  arms,  and  who  now  sent  a  large  body  of  his  troops  to  co- 
operate with  the  British.  Two  attacks  were  made  and  before  June, 
1908,  the  Mohmand  tribes  had  submitted. 

Attempts  on  the  life  of  Sir  Andrew  Fraser,  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Bengal,  followed  by  the  assassination  of  a  magistrate, 
the  killing  of  three  persons  by  a  bomb  thrown  in  a  carriage,  train- 
wrecking,  and  other  acts  of  violence,  led  to  many  arrests  by  the 
police  and  disclosed  a  widespread  plot  by  a  section  of  the  Extremist 
party  for  the  destruction  of  property  and  murder  of  officials.  The 
government  was  compelled  to  adopt  severe  measures;  two  of  these 
related  to  seditious  utterances  in  the  press  and  punishment  for 
illegal  use  of  explosives.    As  the  repression  of  the  newspapers  has 


UNDER     BRITISH    CROWN  310a 

1905-1910 

always  been  objected  to  by  Indian  agitators,  no  action  was  allowed 
to  be  taken  except  on  application  of  the  local  governments.  Under 
these  laws  Bal  Gangadhar  Tilak,  the  leader  of  the  Extremists,  was 
sentenced  to  six  years'  transportation  for  seditious  utterances.  In 
Bombay  there  were  riots  accompanied  by  loss  of  life  but  peaceful 
conditions  were  gradually  restored.  Most  of  these  agitators  were 
Bengalis,  but  the  great  majority  of  the  Mohammedans  remained 
loyal  to  the  British.  However,  there  were  a  number  of  riots  be- 
tween Hindus  and  Mohammedans,  due  to  religious  differences. 

During  1908,  there  was  also  much  discussion  concerning  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  Queen  Victoria's  proclamation  transferring 
the  government  of  India  from  the  East  India  Company  to  the 
crown.  Some  of  the  agitators  claimed  that  the  terms  of  the  pro- 
clamation promising  self-government  had  been  violated.  On  No- 
vember 1  occurred  the  anniversary,  and  the  following  day  the  King 
sent  a  message  to  the  people  of  India.  The  Viceroy,  Lord  Minto, 
read  it  at  a  durbar  at  Jodhpur ;  it  contained  a  remission  of  various 
sentences  for  criminal  offenses  and  promised  an  extension  of  the 
principle  of  representative  institutions ;  it  also  spoke  of  the  govern- 
ment's impartiality  in  protecting  religious  worship  and  of  the 
progress  being  made  in  abolishing  distinctions  of  race  as  a  test  of 
admission  to  positions  of  public  authority.  In  the  same  year  Keir 
Hardie,  the  British  labor  leader,  visited  India  and  returned  to  Eng- 
land with  a  determination  to  make  the  "wrongs"  of  India  a  subject  of 
political  agitation  in  Great  Britain.  He  did  not  achieve  any  mate- 
rial success  in  that  line  but  he  did  contribute  to  a  stronger  senti- 
ment in  favor  of  a  more  liberal  government  for  India. 

Early  in  1909,  Lord  Morley,  the  British  Secretary  of  State  for 
India,  announced  that  measures  would  be  taken  to  increase  the 
native  representation  in  the  legislative  council  of  the  Viceroy  but 
that  nothing  would  be  done  that  would  in  any  way  weaken  the 
central  authority.  On  May  26,  King  Edward  gave  his  consent  to 
Lord  Morley's  reforms.  The  striking  feature  of  the  Morley  scheme 
is  the  fact  that  in  the  provincial  legislative  councils  the  native 
members  are  to  be  in  the  majority,  although  the  head  of  the  pro- 
vince at  his  own  discretion  may  withhold  his  consent  to  any  meas- 
ure. Both  the  English  officials  and  the  East  Indian  publicists  are 
firm  in  their  belief  that  this  veto  power  will  not  be  abused.  An- 
other feature  of  the  reform  measure  is  the  expansion  of  the  Supreme 
Legislative  Council.    The  official  majority  is  retained  but  the  non- 


310b  INDIA 

1905-1910 

official  members  are  given  increased  powers  which  will  enable  them 
to  check  the  officials.  The  native  members  are  given  a  wide  range 
of  subjects  to  discuss  in  the  council  and  they  are  permitted  to  move 
resolutions  recommending  the  removal  of  an  undesirable  statute  or 
the  enactment  of  a  legal  measure.  The  right  to  discuss  financial 
statements  and  to  make  recommendations  about  money  affairs  to 
the  government  has  also  been  granted  to  the  natives.  Those  Indian 
citizens  who  are  to  assist  in  the  governing  of  their  country  are  to 
be  elected  by  popular  vote. 

In  July,  1909,  just  a  few  weeks  after  the  king's  sanction  of  these 
reform  measures,  Colonel  Sir  William  Curzon-Wyllie,  one  of  Lord 
Morley's  aides,  was  shot  and  killed  in  London  by  a  Hindu  fanatic 
named  Madar  Lai  Dhinagri.  On  November  14,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  assassinate  Lord  Minto  as  he  and  Lady  Minto  were  driv- 
ing through  the  city  of  Ahmedabad,  India.  Two  bombs  were 
thrown  at  the  carriage,  but  both  were  intercepted,  and  falling  on 
soft  sand  failed  to  explode.  The  would-be  assassins  made  their 
escape  but  they  were  probably  members  of  the  Extremist  party. 
On  November  15  Lord  Morley's  plans  for  the  reformation  of 
Indian  governmental  affairs  were  put  into  operation.  Various  dis- 
turbances throughout  the  country  culminated  in  the  assassination 
of  a  British  chief  magistrate  of  the  Indian  service  at  Bombay.  The 
Indian  National  Assembly  was  convened  at  Lahore  on  December 
27,  1909. 


HISTORY  OF   PERSIA 

By  W.  Harold  Claflin,  M.  A. 

Department  of  History,  Harvard  University 


HISTORY  OF   PERSIA 

Chapter  I 

THE   SASSANIAN    DYNASTY.    218-643    A.  D. 

THERE  are  but  few  nations  of  the  earth  which  can  match 
the  boast  of  Persia:  that  despite  an  unexampled  series 
of  conquests  and  subjugations  she  has  as  a  nation  played 
a  great  part  in  world  history  in  ancient,  in  mediaeval,  and  in  modern 
times.  In  ancient  times  she  stands  forth,  first  among  the  great 
conquering  nations,  next  as  the  only  power  able  to  cope  with  the 
Roman  colossus.  In  mediaeval  times  she  became  the  mistress  of 
the  intellectual  world,  the  paradise  of  poetry,  the  literary  center 
and  dispenser  of  light  for  all  the  East.  In  modern  times  she  ap- 
pears again  as  a  great  political  state  courted  by  Europe,  influ- 
encing the  Asiatic  expansion  of  European  powers,  splitting  the 
Mohammedan  world  by  her  secession  from  the  orthodox  faith. 
And  finally,  after  producing  the  last  of  the  great  series  of  Asiatic 
conquerors  whose  exploits  and  whose  spoils  revive  for  us  the 
marvels  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  she  sinks  rapidly  into  decay,  and 
like  many  another  Asiatic  power,  falls  an  easy  prey  before  the 
more  scientific  civilization  of  modern  Europe. 

Persia,  or  Iran,  was  divided  by  the  ancients  into  three  parts: 
the  coast,  the  mountain,  and  the  plain.  This  description  holds 
good  for  the  modern  Persia  of  the  shahs,  which,  clipped  of  many 
provinces  as  it  is,  still  corresponds  in  the  main  to  the  empires  of 
former  times.  The  coast  region  lying  along  the  Persian  Gulf 
forms  a  low,  narrow,  unhealthful  strip  cut  off  to  the  north  by  a 
mountain  wall  which  approaches  at  times  to  within  a  mile  of  the 
sea  and  again  recedes  to  a  distance  of  twenty  miles.  This  region, 
arid  and  intensely  hot,  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  opposite 
coast  of  Arabia  and  indeed  is  chiefly  peopled  by  Arabs.  Back  of 
the  mountain  wall,  which  is  penetrated  here  and  there  by  difficult 
passes — the  caravan  routes  to  the  interior — lies  a  mountainous 
region  diversified  in  parts  by  lovely  valleys  and  broad  plains.  This 
is  Persia  proper,  the  cradle  of  the  race  and  the  center  of  the  ancient 

313 


814  PERSIA 

218  A.  D. 

empire.  Here  lie  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  cities — Persepolis,  Susa, 
Pasagardae.  Here  is  the  famous  Vale  of  Shiraz,  famed  in  all 
the  East  for  its  wine  and  roses.  But  on  the  whole  the  region  is 
desolate  and  in  parts  scarcely  habitable.  Back  of  this  hilly  coun- 
try lies  the  great  plateau  of  Iran,  stretching  from  the  fertile  Tigris 
Valley  on  the  west  to  the  mountains  of  Afghanistan  on  the  east, 
and  northward  to  the  Caspian  and  the  River  Oxus.  This  vast  and 
lofty  plateau,  traversed  in  part  by  lofty  mountain  ranges,  is  in 
general  desolate  and  barren,  unwatered  save  for  springs  and  sub- 
terranean channels.  To  the  west  lie  the  grain  lands  of  ancient 
Media  and  the  mountainous  territory  of  the  Karduchi,  the  modern 
Kurdistan;  to  the  east,  cut  off  by  sandy  deserts  and  salt  marshes, 
lies  the  great  province  of  Khurasan,  fertile  and  well-wooded.  To 
the  north  the  huge  bulk  of  the  Elburz  Mountains,  culminating  in 
lofty  Demavend,  the  sacred  mountain  of  Iran,  and  the  still  more 
famous  Ararat,  cuts  off  the  plateau  from  the  Caspian.  The  well- 
wooded  valleys  of  the  Elburz,  watered  by  rushing  mountain 
streams,  are  among  the  most  picturesque  and  delightful  spots  in 
the  country.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  plateau  of  Iran  is  a 
bleak  and  scanty  region,  suffering  from  extremes  of  heat  and  cold, 
but  still  the  birthplace  of  a  strong  and  virile  race. 

The  native  Persian  of  to-day  has,  after  centuries  of  oppres- 
sion and  constant  mixture  with  foreign  races,  sadly  degenerated 
from  his  prototype  of  Achaemenian  or  Sassanian  times.  The 
Tajiks,  as  they  are  called,  form  the  bulk  of  the  settled  population, 
and  are  merchants  and  agriculturists.  Centuries  of  gross  misrule 
have  destroyed  their  ancient  manliness  and  independence  and  made 
of  them  a  servile,  cunning,  and  even  dishonest  race.  Strangely 
enough  the  finest  of  the  native  Persians  to-day  are  found  among 
the  Guebres  or  Fire  Worshipers,  who  have  clung  to  the  ancient 
faith  of  Iran  despite  twelve  hundred  years  of  persecution.  The 
ruling  race  to-day,  and  the  most  virile,  is  the  Turkoman — largely 
formed  of  nomad  tribes  who  are  still  distinguished  for  their 
marauding  habits. 

The  first  period  of  Persian  history  closed  with  the  conquest  of 
the  Achaemenian  kingdom  by  Alexander  the  Great  in  323  b.  c. 
It  had  been  the  idea  of  Alexander  to  fuse  the  Greeks  and  the  Per- 
sians and  to  establish  himself  at  the  head  of  a  Perso-Hellenic  state 
with  its  capital  at  Babylon.  But  this  magnificent  dream  died  with 
the  conqueror  and  his  successors  were  content  to  play  the  ordinary 


THE     SASSANIAN     DYNASTY  515 

218  A.  D. 

role  of  conquerors,  surrounding  themselves  with  Greek  mercen- 
aries and  intrusting  the  government  of  the  provinces  to  Greek 
satraps.  The  Persians  were  treated  as  slaves,  their  religion  in- 
sulted and  their  temples  plundered.  The  Seleucid  rule  was  not, 
however,  of  long  duration  in  Persia.  About  250  b.  c.  the  Par- 
thians,  a  barbarous  and  warlike  people  of  Turanian  stock  inhabit- 
ing the  region  southeast  of  the  Caspian,  threw  off  the  Greek  rule 
under  their  king,  Arsaces,  and  founded  an  independent  state. 
About  163  b.  c.  the  great  Parthian  king  Mithradates  overran 
Persia,  Media,  and  Babylonia  and  established  on  the  ruins  of 
Seleucid  power  an  empire  which  lasted  four  centuries  and  was  the 
first  to  check  the  expansion  of  the  Mistress  of  the  World. 

Under  the  Parthian  kings  the  state  of  the  subject  peoples  of 
Iran  was  somewhat  improved.  The  Arsacide  monarchs  began  at 
least  by  conforming  to  the  national  religion,  while  the  provinces 
were  ruled  by  native  sub-kings  who  were  permitted  to  do  very  much 
as  they  pleased  so  long  as  they  paid  an  annual  tribute  and  sent  the 
required  military  levies  to  the  king  of  kings  at  Ctesiphon.  And  so, 
under  native  princes,  themselves  often  of  the  priestly  order,  the 
national  religion  and  the  traditions  of  former  greatness  were  pre- 
served in  Persia  through  the  long  centuries  of  foreign  domination. 

The  Parthian  empire  after  a  remarkable  career  finally  went 
the  way  of  most  eastern  dynasties.  Under  a  series  of  incapable 
and  luxurious  kings  the  Romans  conquered  province  after  province 
while  the  empire  was  torn  by  civil  wars  and  local  uprisings.  The 
last  Parthian  king,  Artabanes,  did  much  to  revive  the  prestige  of 
the  empire  by  his  great  victory  over  the  Romans  at  Nineveh,  but 
even  he  was  unable  to  check  the  process  of  disintegration.  It  was 
natural  under  these  circumstances  that  Persia  should  seek  to  revive 
her  ancient  independence.  A  leader  was  found  in  Ardashir,  or 
Artaxerxes,  said  by  tradition  to  be  of  lowly  birth,  but  more  probably, 
to  judge  from  his  inscriptions,  the  sub-king  of  Persia.  Rising  in 
sudden  revolt  Ardashir  rapidly  conquered  all  Susiana,  Persia,  and 
Kirman,  and  when  Artabanes,  aroused  to  the  situation,  finally  took 
the  field  he  was  defeated  and  slain  in  battle  on  the  plain  of 
Hormuz,  218  a.  d. 

This  victory  gave  to  Ardashir  the  dominion  of  the  East.  The 
remaining  Parthian  provinces  were  quickly  conquered,  and  the 
new  Persian  empire  soon  extended  from  the  Tigris  to  the  borders 
of    Afghanistan.     Not    content    with    these    successes    Ardashir 


316  PERSIA 

218-258  A.   D. 

dreamed  of  restoring  the  boundaries  of  the  empire  of  Xerxes  and 
of  expelling  the  Romans  from  all  Asia.  A  short  contest  convinced 
him  of  the  futility  of  his  plans  and  he  contented  himself  with 
the  conquest  of  Armenia,  where  reigned  a  king  of  the  Arsacide 
dynasty. 

The  great  work  of  Ardashir's  later  years  was  the  restoration 
of  the  old  national  religion  throughout  Iran.  The  religion  given 
to  the  Persians  by  Zoroaster  had  soon  been  corrupted  from  a  pure 
monotheism  into  a  dualism  wherein  two  equal  and  independent 
principles  Ahura  Mazda  (Ormazd)  the  principle  of  good,  and 
Angro  Mainyus  (Ahriman)  the  principle  of  evil,  are  represented 
in  eternal  contention.  To  this  belief  was  later  added  the  worship 
of  the  elements — fire,  air,  earth,  water — and  the  introduction  of  new 
divinities,  Mithra,  the  sun  god,  and  Anaitis,  the  Babylonian  goddess 
of  love.  To  remove  the  corruptions  which  had  crept  in  under 
Parthian  rule  and  so  to  restore  the  former  purity  of  worship 
Ardashir  ordered  a  collection  of  the  precepts  of  Zoroaster  in  one 
volume.  The  work  was  intrusted  to  ten  priests  chosen  from  an 
assembly  of  forty  thousand  of  the  Magi  and  the  result  was  the 
Zend-Avesta,  the  authorized  bible  of  Zoroastrianism. 

The  dynasty  of  the  Sassanidse,  so  called  from  Sassan,  the 
grandfather  of  Ardashir,  ruled  over  Persia  for  more  than  four 
centuries  and  raised  the  empire  to  a  height  of  glory  and  prosperity 
not  surpassed  by  that  of  the  Achaemenians.  The  external  history 
of  the  period  is  marked  by  an  almost  continual  struggle  between 
Persia  as  heir  of  the  Parthians,  and  Rome  the  heir  of  the  Greeks. 
The  contest  of  centuries,  waged  for  the  possession  of  the  border 
provinces  of  Armenia  and  Mesopotamia,  brought  no  lasting  ad- 
vantage to  either  side,  but  so  exhausted  the  rivals  that  in  the  end 
they  both  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  young  and  vigorous  power  of  the 
Mohammedans.  As  in  most  oriental  dynasties,  so  in  the  Sas- 
sanian,  the  personal  equation  is  the  chief  factor  in  the  progress  oi 
the  nation.  Under  able  kings  Persia  reached  the  heights  of 
strength  and  prosperity;  under  weak  ones  she  quickly  fell  into 
depths  of  weakness  and  disorder.  Here  we  can  glance  at  only  a 
few  of  the  great  figures  which  made  the  Sassanian  dynasty  one  of 
the  most  notable  in  the  history  of  Asia. 

Ardashir  was  succeeded  in  240  by  his  son  Shahpur  or  Sapor 
(the  King's  Son).  The  reign  of  Shahpur  is  distinguished  for  his 
wars  with  the  Roman  empire.     In  the  first  of  these  the  Persians, 


THE     SASSANIAN     DYNASTY 


317 


258-272  A.   D. 


taking  advantage  of  the  supposed  weakness  of  the  young  emperor, 
Gordian,  captured  the  powerful  fortress  of  Nisibis,  overran  Syria 
and  surprised  the  great  city  of  Antioch,  the  Roman  metropolis  of 
the  East.  Gordian,  however,  showed  unexpected  energy,  routed  the 
Persians  in  numerous  battles  and  only  his  murder  saved  Persia 
from  a  counter  invasion.  The  second  war  with  Rome  was,  like  the 
first,  provoked  by  Shahpur,  but  its  outcome  was  very  different. 
Antioch  was  again  sacked  by  a  Persian  army  and  the  Emperor 
Valerian  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  to  drag  out  a  miserable  ex- 
istence as  slave  of  the  king  of  kings — the  first  Roman  emperor  to 
fall  into  barbarian  hands.    After  ravaging  Syria  and  Cappadocia 


GREATEST  EXTEHT  OF 
o  THE     PERSIAN  EMPIRE 


ETHiop 


Shahpur  returned  in  triumph  with  a  vast  booty  to  Ctesiphon,  but 
his  glory  was  somewhat  dimmed  by  the  defeat  of  part  of  the  army 
at  the  hands  of  Odenatus,  prince  of  Palmyra,  whose  overtures  had 
been  haughtily  rejected  by  the  Persian. 

The  rest  of  the  reign  of  Shahpur  was  generally  peaceful. 
The  king  devoted  his  energies  to  the  building  of  a  new  capital  to  be 
called  by  his  name,  and  to  putting  down  the  Manichean  heresy,  a 
strange  mixture  of  Persian  and  Christian  beliefs  which  also 
troubled  eastern  Christendom  for  two  centuries  and  found  echoes  in 
western  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages.    Shahpur  was  undoubtedly 


318  PERSIA 

272-531  A.  D. 

one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  Sassanidae,  not  only  as  a  warrior, 
but  as  a  statesman  and  as  an  administrator. 

The  first  two  Sassanian  princes  were  men  of  exceptional 
ability.  With  their  successors  the  rapid  degeneration  so  noticeable 
in  oriental  dynasties  set  in.  Armenia  became  independent  once 
more  and  the  great  Roman  emperor,  Diocletian,  forced  Persia  to 
cede  him  five  of  her  best  provinces.  With  Shahpur  II.  who,  pro- 
claimed king  of  kings  at  his  birth,  reigned  for  seventy  years,  309,- 
379,  a  new  era  of  prosperity  began.  On  the  death  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine,  Shahpur  declared  war  on  his  weak  successor,  and 
after  inflicting  on  the  Romans  their  worst  defeat  since  the  time  of 
Crassus,  laid  siege  to  the  fortress  of  Nisibis.  But  the  valor  of  the 
bishop,  St.  James,  saved  the  city  and  Shahpur  was  recalled  to  the 
east  by  an  invasion  of  the  Massagetse,  a  Tatar  tribe  of  central 
Asia.  A  new  war  with  Rome  brought  a  formidable  invasion  of 
Persia  by  the  Emperor  Julian  the  Apostate,  who  entered  Meso- 
potamia and  advanced  to  the  Persian  capital  Ctesiphon.  His 
death  in  the  battle  of  Samrah,  363,  freed  Shahpur  from  a  most 
formidable  enemy  and  enabled  him  to  force  the  Romans  into 
a  treaty  by  which  all  their  recent  conquests  as  well  as  Armenia 
and  Nisibis  were  surrendered  to  the  Persians.  Thus  the  reign  of 
Shahpur  left  Persia  in  the  highest  position  she  had  occupied  since 
the  days  of  the  Achaemenides.  Shahpur  well  deserves  his  title  of 
the  Great  and  was  with  one  exception  the  ablest  of  the  Sassanian 
rulers. 

The  following  century  of  Persian  history  is  marked  by  no 
great  rulers.  Its  chief  events  were  the  wars  with  the  Ephthialtes 
or  "  White  Huns,"  a  Turkish  tribe  who  at  one  time  forced  the 
Persians  to  pay  them  tribute,  and  the  attempts  of  the  Persian 
kings  to  convert  Armenia  to  Zoroastrianism.  The  Armenians  had 
been  among  the  earliest  converts  to  Christianity,  as  they  have  been 
among  its  steadiest  adherents.  As  between  Rome  and  Persia  their 
sympathies  naturally  inclined  through  ties  of  religion  to  the  former 
and  in  the  reign  of  Theodosius  a  large  part  of  Armenia  had  defi- 
nitely been  attached  to  the  Roman  empire. 

The  attempt  to  root  out  Christianity  in  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try which  the  Persians  still  held  led  to  a  national  uprising  headed 
by  the  patriots,  Vartan  and  Valian,  which  finally  forced  the 
Persians  to  make  peace  and  permit  the  complete  restoration  of  the 
Christian  Church.     The  result  was  that  Persarmenia  from  being 


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THE     SASSANIAN     DYNASTY  319 

531-579  A.  D. 

a  constant  source  of  weakness  to  Persia  now  became  under  a  rule 
of  toleration  one  of  her  pillars  of  strength. 

The  reign  of  Shah  Khusru  or  Chosroes,  surnamed  Anushir- 
wan,  531-579,  raised  the  Sassanian  empire  to  its  pinnacle  of  glory. 
The  Persian  army  was  carried  into  regions  whither  no  eastern 
conqueror  had  yet  penetrated,  while  better  still  the  internal  condi- 
tion of  the  empire  was  prosperous  as  never  before.  Khusru  in- 
herited from  his  predecessor,  Kobad,  a  Roman  war  which  the 
genius  of  the  great  Belisarius,  the  ablest  general  of  his  age,  had 
already  rendered  disastrous  to  the  Persians.  The  first  care  of 
Shah  Khusru  was  to  make  peace  with  the  empire,  though  the  rapid 
advance  in  the  power  of  Justinian  could  not  fail  to  cause  him 
anxiety.  While  Belisarius  was  engaged  in  conquering  Africa  and 
Italy  for  his  master,  embassies  came  to  the  Persian  court  from  the 
Goths  and  Armenians  begging  him  to  come  to  their  succor  before 
Justinian  had  attained  his  aim  of  universal  empire.  Khusru  by  this 
time  needed  little  persuasion  and  in  543  crossed  the  Euphrates  with 
a  vast  army,  invaded  Syria  and  appeared  under  the  walls  of  An- 
tioch,  which  had  not  seen  a  Persian  army  for  three  centuries.  The 
"  Queen  of  the  East,"  then  at  the  height  of  its  splendor,  fell  after 
a  short  resistance  and  Khusru  gave  its  churches  and  palaces  up 
to  pillage  and  to  the  flames.  Then  after  visiting  the  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  holding  chariot  races  at  Antioch  he  returned 
leisurely  to  Ctesiphon  bearing  an  enormous  booty.  A  renewal  of 
the  contest,  however,  resulted  less  favorably  to  the  Persians,  and 
Khusru  was  obliged  to  cede  the  province  of  Lazica  on  the  Black 
Sea  to  the  Romans,  562  a.  d. 

Finally  freed  on  the  side  of  Rome,  Khusru  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  Arabia,  where  the  Christian  Abyssinians  had  invaded  and 
conquered  the  rich  province  of  Yemen  on  the  Red  Sea.  Encour- 
aged by  fugitive  Arabs  who  reached  his  court  Khusru  dispatched 
an  expedition  by  sea  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  Aden,  the  natives 
rose  in  revolt,  and  the  Abyssinians  were  driven  back  across  the  sea. 
Yemen  from  an  Abyssinian  became  a  Persian  dependency  with  a 
Persian  general  as  king.  In  572  another  war  broke  out  on  the 
Roman  frontier.  Khusru  took  the  field  in  person  with  40,000 
horse  and  100,000  foot  and  took  the  fortress  of  Daras,  the  key  to 
Syria  and  Asia  Minor.  The  war  was  still  in  progress  when  the 
great  king  died,  579,  after  a  reign  of  forty-eight  years. 

Khusru  Anushirwan  was  as  great  in  peace  as  in  war.    He  re- 


320  PERSIA 

579-615  A.   D. 

formed  the  administration  of  the  empire,  dividing  it  into  four 
great  governments  intrusted  to  faithful  servants  who  watched 
over  the  satraps  of  the  provinces.  The  great  king  himself  made 
frequent  progresses  through  his  dominions  to  watch  over  the 
administration  of  justice  and  to  punish  dishonest  officials.  He  re- 
formed the  system  of  taxation  substituting  land  and  property  taxes 
for  the  old  oppressive  tithes  or  payments  in  kind.  To  prevent  ex- 
tortion he  placed  the  supervision  of  the  collection  of  the  revenues  in 
the  hands  of  the  Magian  priesthood.  The  army  was  reorganized 
and  fixed  wages  established,  the  king  himself  as  general-in-chief 
receiving  4001  dirhems,  one  dirhem  (twelve  cents)  more  than  any 
of  his  generals.  Much  attention  was  given  to  the  encouragement 
of  agriculture  by  the  building  of  canals  and  irrigation  ditches, 
while  to  increase  the  population  marriage  was  made  compulsory. 
Khusru  was  also  a  patron  of  learning.  He  gave  refuge  to  many 
Greek  sages  driven  by  persecution  from  the  dominions  of  Justinian 
and  in  his  reign  the  annals  of  the  kingdom  were  collected,  forming 
the  basis  for  the  later  Shah-nameh  of  Ferdousi.  A  university  was 
founded  at  Susa  where  medicine,  philisophy,  rhetoric,  and  astron- 
omy were  taught.  In  many  ways  Khusru  was  a  man  far  in  advance 
of  his  time.  Though  his  power  was  unlimited  and  his  rule  severe, 
he  was  by  no  means  a  tyrant.  He  permitted  freedom  of  worship 
to  all  religions,  and  we  learn  from  the  anecdotes  told  of  him  that 
his  respect  for  individual  rights,  whether  of  rich  or  poor,  was  of 
the  highest.  On  the  whole  the  greatest  and  best  of  the  Sassanian 
kings,  perhaps  the  greatest  in  all  Persian  history,  he  amply  de- 
served the  simple  yet  glorious  title  of  "  the  Just." 

The  usual  temporary  collapse  followed  the  death  of  Khusru, 
but  the  empire  was  again  united  by  the  accession  of  Khusru  II., 
surnamed  Parviz,  "  the  Generous,"  591-628,  who  gained  his  throne 
from  the  usurper  Bahram  with  the  aid  of  the  Romans.  The  reign 
of  the  second  Khusru  was  the  most  remarkable  in  Sassanian  an- 
nals, marking  as  it  does  the  extremes  of  elevation  and  depression 
in  Persian  power.  The  whole  reign  of  Khusru  is  the  history  of 
one  continuous  war  with  the  Roman  empire  of  the  East. 

After  the  murder  of  his  friend  and  ally,  Maurice,  in  603, 
Khusru  declared  war  on  the  weak  tyrant,  Phocas,  and  during  the 
period  of  disorder  which  afflicted  the  empire  overran  and  conquered 
in  a  few  years  all  Syria  and  Asia  Minor.  Aided  by  a  revolt  of 
the  Jews,  Damascus  and  Jerusalem  were  taken  in  615  and  the  in- 


THE     SASSANIAN     DYNASTY  321 

615-633  A.  D. 

habitants  massacred.  The  next  year  the  Persian  general,  Shahr 
Barz,  conquered  Egypt  which  had  not  seen  a  foreign  invader  since 
the  days  of  Julius  Caesar.  Meantime  another  Persian  army  ad- 
vanced through  Asia  Minor  and  appeared  at  Chalcedon  on  the 
Bosporus  opposite  Constantinople.  Thus  in  fifteen  years  the 
Romans  had  lost  all  their  Asiatic  and  east  African  territories  held 
for  six  centuries  against  Parthian  and  Persian.  The  new  emperor, 
Heraclius,  reduced  to  his  capital,  took  the  desperate  resolve  of 
leaving  Constantinople  to  its  fate  and  carrying  the  war  into  the 
enemy's  country.  Embarking  his  army  in  a  great  fleet  he  crossed 
the  Black  Sea  to  Trebizond  and  thence  invaded  Armenia  with  120,- 
000  men,  everywhere  defeating  the  Persians  and  putting  Khusru 
himself  to  flight.  The  next  year  he  landed  again  on  the  Black 
Sea  coast  and  marched  straight  across  Asia  Minor  to  Cicilia,  de- 
feating on  the  way  Shahr  Barz,  the  best  of  the  Persian  generals. 
In  625  the  Persians  persuaded  the  Bulgarians  and  Avars  to  make 
with  them  a  combined  attack  on  Constantinople.  But  the  Greek 
fleet  patrolling  the  Bosporus  held  the  allies  apart  and  the  northern 
hordes  could  make  no  impression  on  the  fortifications  of  the  city. 

In  627  Heraclius  again  took  the  field  and  advanced  from 
Armenia  into  the  heart  of  the  Persian  empire.  Khusru  was  de- 
feated in  the  great  battle  of  Nineveh  and  his  capital  of  Dastaghard 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans.  The  shah  fled  to  Ctesiphon, 
where  he  perished  in  a  palace  revolution  after  witnessing  the  loss 
of  all  his  conquests  and  the  devastation  of  his  own  provinces,  628 
a.  d.  His  death  was  the  signal  for  the  close  of  the  terrible  struggle 
which  had  ravaged  western  Asia  for  twenty-four  years.  By  the 
treaty  of  peace  the  boundaries  between  the  two  empires  were 
restored  as  they  had  existed  before  the  war,  so  that  the  contest 
had  no  further  result  than  the  complete  exhaustion  of  both  sides. 
The  usual  confusion  followed  the  fall  of  Khusru  till  in  632 
the  nobles  raised  to  the  throne  Yezdigerd  III.,  the  last  of  the 
Sassanidae. 

While  the  two  great  empires  of  the  East  had  been  locked  in 
a  death  struggle  for  supremacy,  the  prophet  Mohammed  had  been 
preaching  the  One  God  to  the  pagan  tribes  of  Arabia,  and  uniting 
them  by  persuasion  or  force  under  the  banner  of  the  new  faith.  Mo- 
hammed had  begun  his  mission  about  the  year  614  a.  d.  By  the  time 
of  his  death,  in  the  same  year  that  Yezdigerd  mounted  the  Persian 
throne,  all  Arabia  had  been  converted  to  Islam  (literally  the  Sur- 

\ 


322  PERSIA 

633-641  A.   D. 

render  to  God),  and  the  Arabs  were  prepared  to  carry  their 
proselytizing  zeal  to  the  surrounding  nations.  With  the  succession 
to  the  kalifate  of  Abu  Bekr,  the  father-in-law  of  Mohammed,  began 
the  wonderful  career  of  Arab  conquest.  In  633  the  Arabs  led  by 
Khalid,  the  Sword  of  God,  overran  the  Persian  provinces  to  the 
west  of  the  Euphrates.  But  in  the  following  year  the  Persians 
reconquered  the  region  and  drove  the  Arabs  back  into  the  desert. 
When  Kalif  Omar  heard  the  news  he  cried,  "  I  swear  by  the  Lord 
that  I  will  smite  down  the  proud  princes  of  Persia  with  the  sword 
of  the  princes  of  Arabia."  A  call  to  arms  was  sent  through  all 
Arabia  and  Sa'd  ibn  Walik,  known  as  the  Ravening  Lion,  with 
30,000  men  marched  to  Kadesia  on  the  edge  of  the  Syrian  desert. 
Thence  messengers  were  sent  to  Yezdigerd  urging  him  to  embrace 
Islam.  It  is  said  that  the  Persian  in  scorn  ordered  a  clod  of  earth 
to  be  brought  and  given  to  the  Arabs,  who  received  it  gladly  as  an 
omen  of  the  conquest  of  Persia. 

The  Persian  host  of  120,000  men  with  30  war  elephants,  led 
by  Rustam,  the  best  of  the  Persian  generals,  advanced  to  meet  the 
Arab  army  which  was  drawn  up  under  the  walls  of  Kadesia.  The 
first  day's  battle  favored  the  Persians,  whose  war  elephants  spread 
terror  in  the  Arab  ranks.  But  the  Arabs  received  reinforcements 
during  the  night  (whence  the  name  "  the  night  of  succors  "),  and 
now  more  accustomed  to  the  elephants,  renewed  the  combat.  After 
three  days  more  of  desperate  fighting  Rustam  was  slain  and  the 
Persian  host  put  to  flight. 

Kadesia  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  for  the  Persian  mon- 
archy. In  the  following  year  Sa'd  with  60,000  men  captured 
Ctesiphon,  the  magnificent  capital  of  Persia,  with  a  booty  so 
enormous  that  even  the  Arab  historian  is  at  a  loss  to  describe  it. 
The  spoil  is  said  to  have  reached  900,000,000  dirhems  ($108,000,- 
000),  so  that  each  of  the  soldiers  received  as  his  share  1200  pieces 
of  silver.  Among  the  treasures  found  in  the  royal  palace  was  a 
great  carpet  of  white  brocade,  450  feet  long  and  90  feet  broad, 
with  a  border  worked  in  precious  stones  to  represent  a  garden  of 
flowers,  the  leaves  formed  of  emeralds,  the  blossoms  of  rubies, 
sapphires,  and  pearls. 

All  Mesopotamia  and  Irak  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Arabs 
who,  at  the  command  of  Omar,  halted  for  a  time  and  consolidated 
their  conquest  by  founding  the  cities  of  Bussorah  and  Kufa.  In 
641,  after  the  conquest  of  Syria  was  complete,  the  tide  turned  east- 


THE     SASSANIAN     DYNASTY  323 

€41-643  A.   D. 

ward  once  more.  Yezdigerd  had  collected  an  enormous  army  for 
a  final  effort  to  save  his  throne.  But  the  Persian  host  was  almost 
annihilated  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Nehavend,  "  the  Victory  of 
Victories " — and  with  Nehavend  the  whole  Persian  empire  fell 
before  the  Mohammedan  conquerors.  Here  and  there  isolated 
stands  were  made  by  local  chieftains,  but  all  organized  resistance 
was  at  an  end.  The  unhappy  Yezdigerd  fled  to  Merv  and  main- 
tained for  ten  years  a  fugitive  existence,  ever  seeking  help  to 
recover  his  throne,  only  to  perish  obscurely  in  a  miller's  hut  in 
652  A.  D. 

The  Sassanian  period  was  one  of  the  most  glorious  in  Persian 
history.  The  power  and  magnificence  of  the  kings  is  attested  even 
by  the  few  remains  which  have  survived  the  centuries  since  their 
time — such  as  the  palaces  of  Ctesiphon,  Firzabad,  and  Mashita. 
The  architecture  of  the  period,  without  losing  the  majesty  of  that 
of  earlier  times,  had  gained  in  variety  of  expression  and  in  richness 
of  detail.  The  sculptures  of  Sassanian  times,  used  to  describe  both 
religious  ceremonies  and  exploits  of  the  kings,  show  such  remarkable 
skill  and  vigor  that  many  have  declared  them  to  be  the  work  of 
Greek  and  Roman  artists  in  Persian  service.  But  though  Greek 
and  even  Hindu  influence  is  evident  in  the  remains,  still,  on  the 
whole,  the  art  of  the  period  was  thoroughly  national.  Centuries 
of  decay  and  ravages  scarcely  equaled  in  history  have  left  few 
records  of  the  splendor  of  the  Sassanians,  but  such  as  they  are  they 
bear  witness  to  a  time  of  great  artistic  activity.  Of  the  palace  of 
Ctesiphon  nothing  remains  save  a  majestic  arch  or  portal,  85  feet 
in  height,  and  72  in  breadth,  which  is  in  itself  sufficient  to  con- 
vince us  that  this  was  the  most  magnificent  of  Sassanian  palaces. 
The  palace  of  Mashita,  built  by  Khusru  II.  in  the  land  of  Moab, 
gives  a  better  idea  of  the  work  of  the  Sassanian  kings.  It  was 
built  in  the  form  of  a  square,  730  feet  on  a  side,  the  walls  strength- 
ened by  semicircular  towers,  the  interior  a  succession  of  vaulted 
chambers  and  spacious  courts  culminating  in  a  great  central  hall 
which  was  surmounted  by  a  vast  dome.  The  chief  fagade,  200 
feet  long,  is  notable  for  its  decorations  of  sculptured  diaper  work 
in  stone — a  bewildering  maze  of  vines  and  foliage  combined  with 
birds  and  animals.  For  richness  and  delicacy  this  example  of 
Sassanian  sculpture  is  unsurpassed  in  the  work  of  any  other  age 
or  clime. 

The  Persia  of  Sassanian  times  was  essentially  a  land  of  city 


PERSIA 

643  A.    D. 

folk.  In  districts  now  deserted  save  for  wandering  nomads  once 
stood  great  cities  such  as  Susa,  Ctesiphon,  Seleucia,  Hecatompylos, 
Persepolis,  and  Ecbatana,  the  modern  Hamadan. 

Agriculture  was  more  extensive  than  it  is  to-day,  though 
tribes  of  herdsmen  roamed  the  vast  plains  just  as  they  do  now. 

The  Persian  court  was  the  most  luxurious  of  the  time.  Its 
splendor  culminated  apparently  with  Khusru  II.,  whose  harem  of 
three  thousand  concubines  and  ten  thousand  slave  women  is  the 
largest  mentioned  in  history.  The  power  of  the  kings  was  absolute 
and  unlimited.  But  their  tyranny,  which  frequently  degenerated 
into  fearful  cruelty,  was  felt  only  by  the  upper  classes,  the  nobles, 
and  courtiers.  The  mass  of  the  people,  especially  after  Khusru  I., 
were  content  and,  for  the  age,  well  governed. 


Chapter   II 

FOREIGN    RULE.    643-1502 

THE  Arab  conquest  of  Persia  did  not  involve  an  immediate 
conversion  of  the  inhabitants  to  the  faith  of  Islam.  The 
religion  of  Zoroaster  was  at  first  spared  and  its  followers 
allowed  to  pay  tribute,  because  like  Jews  and  Christians  they  had 
"  received  a  writing  "  in  the  words  of  the  Koran,  and  hence  were 
not  to  be  treated  as  idolaters  whose  only  choice  was  conversion  or 
the  sword.  Nevertheless  the  process  of  conversion  went  on  rapidly, 
aided  by  a  decree  of  exemption  for  converts  from  certain  oppres- 
sive taxes.  Indeed  so  numerous  were  the  conversions  and  so  low 
had  the  revenue  fallen  that  this  bounty  system  had  to  be  with- 
drawn in  the  year  700.  The  old  religion  still  lingered  on  and  the 
fire  altars  remained  lighted  in  the  remoter  provinces  long  after  the 
conquest  was  complete.  Later  persecution  drove  the  remaining 
adherents  of  the  ancient  faith  to  seek  refuge  in  India  and  only 
a  few  thousand  remain  to-day  in  Persia.  The  result  of  this  con- 
version en  masse  has  been  that  Persia  has  never,  unlike  the  Otto- 
man empire,  been  confronted  with  the  problem  of  a  great  body 
of  unbelievers  among  her  subjects.  That  vital  source  of  weak- 
ness to  Turkey  has  been  spared  her  more  fortunate  neighbor. 

Though  Persia  as  an  independent  nation  had  ceased  to  exist, 
still  the  influence  of  her  superior  culture  was  powerful  with  her 
conquerors.  The  Arabs  absorbed  to  so  great  an  extent  the  civil- 
ization of  Persia  and  the  Sassanian  methods  of  government  that 
the  Kalif  Suleiman  once  exclaimed,  "  I  marvel  at  the  Persians. 
They  have  ruled  a  thousand  years  without  for  a  moment  having 
need  of  us,  while  we  have  ruled  but  a  hundred  years  and  have 
needed  them  every  moment." 

Under  the  Ommeyad  dynasty  of  kalifs  Persia  was  merely  one 
and  not  the  most  important  province  of  the  vast  empire  which 
within  a  century  after  the  death  of  Mohammed  stretched  from  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  borders  of  China  and  Hindustan.  In 
the  history  of  the  early  kalifate  we  need  note  but  one  episode 

325 


326  PERSIA 

656-809 

which,  though  creating  little  stir  at  the  time,  had  a  vital  influence 
on  the  future  of  Persia  as  well  as  of  the  whole  Mohammedan 
world.  Ali,  son-in-law  of  the  Prophet,  whose  favorite  daughter 
Fatima  he  married,  became  kalif  after  the  assassination  of  Othman 
in  656;  but  his  authority  did  not  extend  beyond  the  eastern 
provinces,  for  Muavia,  governor  of  Syria,  and  Amru,  the  con- 
queror of  Egypt,  refused  him  recognition.  Ali  was  assassinated 
in  661  and  Muavia  became  kalif  of  all  Islam.  Of  the  two  sons  of 
Ali,  one,  Hasan,  died  of  poison,  while  the  other,  Hosein,  after  an 
abortive  attempt  at  rebellion  was  massacred  with  his  family  and 
relations  at  Kerbela  by  the  orders  of  the  Persian  governor,  Obeid- 
allah.  The  destruction  of  almost  all  the  male  descendants  of  the 
Prophet  aroused  indignation  throughout  the  Mohammedan  world 
as  the  tale  borne  from  Mecca  by  pilgrims  gained  new  and  more 
tragic  details.  With  the  pity  bred  in  every  household  came  also 
a  revived  interest  in  the  claims  of  Ali  and  his  descendants  to  be 
the  true  representatives  of  the  Prophet.  The  movement  gained 
special  force  in  Persia,  where  Ali  had  himself  ruled  and  where  the 
general  dislike  for  the  Arabs  and  their  doctrine  found  in  this  way 
a  chance  for  expression.  A  sect  arose  which  held  Ali  and  his  de- 
scendants, the  Twelve  Imams,  to  be  the  true  successors  of  Moham- 
med and  rejected  the  regular  line  of  kalif s  and  all  their  works. 
This  sect,  though  soon  split  into  minor  divisions  and  persecuted 
as  Shiahs  or  heretics,  maintained  itself  in  Persia  till  the  day  of 
its  own  supremacy  arrived. 

With  the  advent  of  the  Abbasside  kalifs  who  transferred  the 
capital  from  Damascus  to  Bagdad  near  the  Persian  frontier,  the 
situation  of  Persia  improved  and  her  position  in  the  Mohammedan 
world  became  a  more  important  one.  The  social  distinctions  be- 
tween Arab  and  Persian  began  to  disappear  and  Persian  families, 
like  the  Barmecides  under  Harun  al  Raschid,  rose  to  the  highest 
offices  in  the  state.  The  Abbasside  dynasty  culminated  with  Harun 
al  Raschid  (Aaron  the  Just),  786-809,  who  ruled  over  a  multitude 
of  peoples  from  Gibraltar  to  the  Indus,  forced  the  emperor  of  Con- 
stantinople to  pay  him  tribute  and  exchanged  embassies  with 
Charlemagne  and  the  emperor  of  China.  His  reign  is,  however, 
chiefly  notable  for  the  revival  of  learning  throughout  the  East. 
Bagdad,  then  the  most  magnificent  city  in  Asia,  was  the  center  to 
which  flocked  the  learned  and  talented,  for  the  kalif  was  known 
as  a  generous  patron  of  both  the  sciences  and  the  fine  arts.    This 


FOREIGN     RULE 


327 


809-872 

golden  age  of  letters  was  attended  by  an  increase  in  Persian  in- 
fluence. Persian  dress  became  fashionable  and  the  Persian 
language  became  the  tongue  of  polite  society  and  of  belles-lettres, 
while  Arabic  remained  the  language  of  science  and  of  the  official 
world.  The  learning  of  the  Greeks  was  translated  into  Arabic 
and  Persian,  while  medicine,  astronomy,  geography,  and  mathe- 
matics as  well  as  the  fine  arts,  were  sedulously  cultivated  and  even 
advanced  by  original  research.  The  name  of  Harun  is  best  known 
to  us  through  the  tales  of  the  Arabian  Nights  which  reveal  the 


deep  impression  made  on  the  eastern  mind  by  his  wisdom  and 
splendor. 

After  his  death,  the  Abbasside  kalifate  rapidly  declined.  The 
weak  vicegerents  of  the  Prophet,  shut  up  for  the  most  part  in  their 
luxurious  palaces,  gave  themselves  up  to  pleasure  and  relied  more 
and  more  for  protection  on  their  guard  of  Turkish  mercenaries 
which  ruled  the  capital  and  set  up  or  deposed  rulers  as  it  pleased. 
In  the  provinces  the  governors  or  native  princes  threw  off  all  but 
nominal  dependence  on  Bagdad  and  strove  to  establish  hereditary 
and  independent  states.  Of  the  host  of  petty  dynasties  which  thus 
arose  in  Persia  a  few  only  can  here  be  mentioned. 

The  Saffarid  dynasty  (872-902)  was  founded  by  Yusuf,  the 


328  PERSIA 

872-997 

son  of  Leis  the  Saffar  (coppersmith).  Yusuf  began  his  career  as 
leader  of  a  band  of  robbers,  and  so  increased  his  power  that  the 
kalif  was  obliged  to  make  him  governor  of  Seistan,  which,  of  all 
the  Persian  provinces,  preserved  most  of  the  ancient  culture  and 
national  spirit.  Yusuf  soon  extended  his  dominions  over  Herat  on 
the  one  hand  and  over  Shiraz  and  Fars  on  the  other.  At  last  he 
broke  into  open  revolt  against  the  kalif  but  was  defeated  and  died, 
878.  His  brother  Amr  ruled  over  the  greater  part  of  the  provinces 
of  Fars,  Kirman,  Seistan,  and  Khurasan,  that  is,  a  greater  part  of 
the  modern  kingdom,  till  the  year  900,  when  his  power  was  broken 
by  Ismail  the  Samanid. 

Ismail  ibn  Ahmad,  founder  of  the  Samanid  dynasty  (874- 
999)  was  descended  from  a  Persian  noble  of  Bactria  who,  having 
renounced  Zoroastrianism,  rose  to  high  rank  under  the  kalifs,  while 
his  sons  held  the  governments  of  Samarkand  and  Kashgar.  In 
903  Ismail  having  conquered  the  Saffarids  in  Khurasan  brought 
under  his  sway  the  vast  region  from  the  deserts  of  central  Asia 
to  the  Persian  Gulf  and  from  the  borders  of  Irak  to  the  River 
Indus.  Under  him  the  cities  of  Samarkand  and  Bokhara  attained 
great  splendor  and  became  centers  of  civilization  and  learning 
for  the  whole  Mohammedan  world.  The  empire  which  he  had 
founded  lasted  till  1004,  when  Samarkand  and  Bokhara  were 
captured  by  the  Seljuk  Turks,  while  the  southern  provinces  fell 
to  the  sultan  of  Ghazni. 

The  Buwayids,  or  Dilemites,  who  claim  descent  from  Bahram 
Ghor,  the  usurper  against  Khusru  II.,  held  in  932  the  provinces 
of  Fars  and  Ispahan.  A  few  years  later  they  captured  Bagdad 
and  ruled  for  the  feeble  kalifs  with  the  title  of  amir-ul-omra,  until 
their  overthrow,  first  by  Mahmud  of  Ghazni  and  finally  by  the 
Seljuk  Turks. 

More  important  than  any  of  these  fleeting  dynasties  was  that 
founded  by  Mahmud  of  Ghazni,  997-1030.  Mahmud  was  the  son 
of  Subuktigin,  prince  of  Ghazni  in  Afghanistan,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded in  spreading  his  sway  over  all  that  mountainous  region,  even 
making  an  inroad  into  Hindustan.  Mahmud,  surnamed  "  the  Vic- 
torious," took  up  his  father's  career  of  conquest  and  in  a  series  of 
campaigns  overran  the  Punjab  and  captured  the  sacred  city  of 
Lahore.  Recalled  by  an  invasion  of  the  Tatars  into  Khurasan,  he 
defeated  and  drove  them  beyond  the  Oxus.  Then  turning  again 
to  India  he  spread  his  conquests  eastward  to  the  Ganges  and  south- 


FOREIGN    RULE  329 

997-1038 

ward  to  Gujarat.  A  zealous  Mohammedan,  he  converted  multi- 
tudes to  the  faith  and  laid  the  foundations  for  Mohammedan 
power  in  India. 

Mahmud  professed  the  greatest  respect  for  the  kalif  whom  he 
freed  from  the  usurping  Dilemites.  In  return  the  commander  of 
the  Faithful  made  him  his  lieutenant  and  granted  him  the  highly 
prized  title  of  sultan.  Mahmud  occupies  a  conspicuous  position 
in  the  illustrious  line  of  Mohammedan  conquerors.  The  extent  of 
his  ravages  is  illustrated  by  the  famous  story  told  by  his  vizir  of  an 
owl  who  daily  wished  long  life  to  Mahmud  because  she  was  en- 
abled to  give  her  daughter  the  dowry  of  a  hundred  ruined  villages. 
Mahmud  is  also  noted  as  a  patron  of  literature.  Among  the  four 
hundred  poets  who  were  maintained  at  his  court  was  Ferdousi,  the 
greatest  epic  poet  of  Persia,  whose  Shah-nameh,  or  Book  of 
Kings,  has  preserved  for  us  Persia's  traditions  of  her  own  past. 
After  the  death  of  Mahmud  his  kingdom  soon  fell  to  pieces.  The 
Persian  provinces  were  conquered  by  the  Seljuk  khans,  while  his 
Indian  empire  with  its  capital  at  Lahore  flourished  till  1186  and 
then  fell  before  the  sultans  of  Ghor. 

Among  the  nomad  tribes  which  were  attracted  to  Persia  by 
the  glowing  accounts  sent  home  by  the  Turkish  mercenaries  of  the 
kalif,  the  most  powerful  was  that  of  the  Seljuks.  The  Seljuks 
were  a  branch  of  a  Turkish  race,  the  Holi  Hu,  who  had  wandered 
from  the  steppes  of  Siberia  and  settled  around  the  Caspian  in  the 
eighth  century  of  our  era.  Seljuk,  from  whom  the  tribe  took  its 
name,  was  chief  of  a  small  principality  with  Bokhara  as  its  capital. 
His  sons  are  said  to  have  been  invited  into  Persia  by  Mahmud  of 
Ghazni,  himself,  to  war  with  him  against  the  powerful  Samanids. 
The  story  runs  that  Mahmud  demanded  of  the  Seljuk  envoy  what 
force  they  could  bring  to  his  aid.  "  Send  this  arrow,"  said  the 
envoy,  presenting  one  of  two  which  he  carried,  "  and  fifty  thou- 
sand horse  will  appear.  Send  the  second  arrow  and  an  equal  num- 
ber will  follow."  "  But  suppose,"  asked  Mahmud,  "  that  I  was  in 
distress,  and  needed  all  your  exertions  ?  "  "  Then,"  replied  the 
Turk,  "  send  my  bow  and  two  hundred  thousand  horse  will  obey  the 
summons !  "  Mahmud  was  filled  with  astonishment  and  secret 
alarm  at  this  report  of  his  allies'  strength  and  prophesied  the  over- 
throw of  his  own  empire. 

After  the  death  of  the  great  Ghaznivid,  Toghrul  Beg,  chief 
of  the  Seljuks  who  were  now  in  possession  of  Khurasan,  hearing 


330  PERSIA 

1038-1093 

of  the  weakness  of  the  kalif,  advanced  into  Persia  and  captured 
Bagdad,  taking  the  kalif  prisoner.  Toghrul  treated  his  illustrious 
captive  with  the  utmost  respect  and  the  latter  in  return  made  the 
Seljuk  his  viceroy  with  the  title  of  sultan,  thus  adding  immensely 
to  Toghrul's  authority  in  the  eyes  of  orthodox  Mohammedans,  who 
still  looked  on  the  kalif  as  head  of  all  Islam.  Moreover,  Toghrul 
married  one  of  the  kalif's  daughters  despite  the  opposition  of  the 
Abbassides,  whose  family  pride  had  survived  their  loss  of  power. 

Toghrul  Beg  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew  Alp  Arslan,  the 
Conquering  Lion,  1063- 1073.  The  chief  event  of  his  short  but 
brilliant  reign  was  the  conquest  of  Asia  Minor,  which  had  been 
held  by  the  Byzantine  emperors  against  the  utmost  efforts  of  the 
Arab  conquerors.  In  1070  Alp  Arslan  encountered  the  Roman 
army  led  by  the  emperor,  Romanus  Diogenes,  at  Manzikert.  The 
rashness  of  the  Roman  emperor  resulted  in  the  complete  defeat  of 
his  troops  and  laid  all  Asia  Minor  at  the  feet  of  the  conqueror. 
Romanus  himself  was  taken  prisoner,  but  met  with  a  different  fate 
from  his  unhappy  prototype,  Valerian,  eight  centuries  before. 
Alp  Arslan  treated  him  with  the  utmost  courtesy  and  respect  and 
released  him  and  all  his  companions  on  the  payment  of  a  large 
ransom.  The  Seljuk  sultan  now  turned  eastward  and  was  prepar- 
ing for  the  conquest  of  the  trans-Oxus  region,  the  former  seat  of  his 
race,  when  he  fell  by  the  hand  of  a  prisoner  whom  he  had  just 
condemned  to  death.  He  was  buried  in  his  favorite  city  of  Merv 
and  over  his  tomb  was  engraved  the  inscription,  "  All  ye  who  have 
seen  the  glory  of  Alp  Arslan  exalted  to  the  heavens,  come  to  Merv 
and  you  will  behold  it  buried  in  the  dust." 

Alp  Arslan  found  a  worthy  successor  in  his  son,  Malak  Shah, 
1 073- 1 093,  the  most  powerful  monarch  of  the  Seljuk  dynasty. 
His  generals  conquered  all  Syria  and  invaded  Egypt,  while  to  the 
eastward  his  empire  extended  far  beyond  Samarkand  and  Bokhara, 
and  even  the  distant  khan  of  Kashgar  paid  him  tribute.  We  are 
told  that  daily  prayers  were  offered  for  his  health  in  Mecca,  Medina, 
Jerusalem,  Ispahan,  Bagdad,  Nishapur  and  Bokhara.  The  boat- 
men on  the  Oxus  were  paid  by  bills  of  exchange  drawn  on  Antioch 
and  current  throughout  the  realm.  No  Mohammedan  ruler  had 
held  such  an  empire  since  the  days  of  Harun  al  Raschid.  Both 
Alp  Arslan  and  his  son  governed  ostensibly  as  viceroys  of  the  puppet 
kalifs  whose  spiritual  authority  was  still  supreme  throughout  the 
eastern  Mohammedan  world,  and  whose  position  may  be  likened 


FOREIGN     RULE  331 

1093-1141 

to  that  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs  of  to-day.  This  respectful  attitude 
of  the  Seljuk  sultans  did  much  to  enhance  their  prestige  among 
Mohammedans. 

The  reigns  of  Alp  Arslan  and  Malak  Shah,  chiefly  celebrated 
for  their  conquests,  are  just  as  notable  for  the  peaceful  achievements 
which  center  round  the  name  of  the  Nizam-ul-Mulk.  Alp  Arslan 
selected  for  his  chief  vizir  a  native  Persian,  Abu  Ali  al  Hassan, 
known  in  history  as  Nizam-ul-Mulk — (literally  Ornamentor  of 
the  State),  who  remained  in  office  for  twenty  years.  Under  his 
fostering  rule  Persia  flourished  as  she  had  not  for  many  genera- 
tions. Hospitals  and  caravansaries  were  erected;  bridges,  roads, 
and  canals  were  built  or  repaired;  agriculture  and  trade  were  en- 
couraged; while  the  sultan  and  his  vizir  made  frequent  progresses 
through  the  land  to  see  that  justice  was  maintained.  Nor  were 
science  and  literature  neglected.  Colleges  were  established  at  Herat, 
Nishapur,  Ispahan,  and  Basra,  while  to  the  college  at  Bagdad  was 
added  a  law  school  and  an  astronomical  observatory.  Malak  Shah 
is  unanimously  praised  by  oriental  writers  for  his  greatness  and 
wisdom.  But  a  great  blot  rests  on  his  fame  in  his  treatment  of 
Nizam-ul-Mulk.  After  serving  his  master  faithfully  for  twenty 
years  the  vizir  was  dismissed  from  office  through  the  intrigues  of 
his  enemies  at  court,  and  was  shortly  after  assassinated  by  an 
emissary  of  Hassan,  chief  of  the  Assassins  and  his  personal  foe. 
Malak  Shah  did  not  long  survive  his  great  minister,  and  in  dying, 
1093,  did  much  to  hasten  the  fall  of  his  empire  by  dividing  it  among 
his  sons. 

The  result  of  this  disastrous  policy  was  soon  felt.  The  border 
provinces  on  the  west  soon  broke  away  from  the  empire  and  were 
formed  into  the  sultanates  of  Iconium,  Mosul,  Aleppo,  and 
Damascus,  which  played  their  part  in  the  history  of  the  Crusades. 
In  the  east  the  process  of  disintegration  was  for  a  time  postponed 
by  Sultan  Sanjar,  whose  vassals  ruled  in  Bagdad  and  Arabia  while 
he  was  engaged  in  extending  the  Seljuk  power  in  India  and 
central  Asia.  With  his  death  in  battle  against  the  Turkomans,  in 
1 141,  perished  the  last  vestige  of  a  central  power.  Persia  was  soon 
split  up  among  a  number  of  petty  princes  called  atabegs  (tutors) 
who,  originally  governing  as  ministers  for  the  Seljuk  princes, 
ended  by  usurping  the  power  themselves.  The  kalif  too,  recovering 
some  of  his  temporal  authority,  ruled  once  more  over  Bagdad  and 
the  province  of  Irak,  while  the  eastern  provinces  of  Persia  fell  into 


332  PERSIA 

1141-1223 

the  hands  of  the  sultans  of  Khuarezm.  The  sultanate  of  Khuarezm, 
which  took  its  name  from  the  region  between  the  Caspian  and  the 
Ural  Seas,  was  founded  by  the  cupbearer  of  Malak  Shah  who 
made  his  favorite  governor  of  the  trans-Oxus  province.  After 
the  death  of  Sanjar  the  princes  of  this  dynasty  set  up  an  independent 
state  which  soon  became  the  most  powerful  in  the  East,  extending 
from  Turkestan  to  the  Persian  Gulf.  Under  Sultan  Ala-ad-din, 
1 199-1220,  Bokhara  and  Afghanistan  were  conquered.  Ala-ad-din 
seems  to  have  adopted  the  Alid  heresy,  and  was  planning  the  de- 
struction of  the  Abbasside  kalifs  when  his  empire  was  overthrown 
by  the  invasion  of  the  Mongols. 

Of  all  the  petty  states  growing  out  from  the  ruins  of  the 
Seljuk  monarchy,  the  most  peculiar  was  that  of  the  Assassins. 
Chance  had  brought  together  in  youthful  friendship,  the  three  most 
notable  men  of  their  day  in  the  East, — Nizam-ul-Mulk,  Omar 
Khayyam,  and  Hassan  ibn  as-Sabbah.  The  three  youths  met  at 
the  college  of  Nishapur  where  they  studied  under  the  learned  Imam 
el-Muwaffa,  and  before  parting  to  seek  their  fortunes  made  a 
compact  that  whoever  among  them  succeeded  in  life  should  share 
his  good  fortune  with  his  comrades.  Accordingly  when  Nizam 
ul-Mulk  became  chief  minister  of  the  Seljuk  empire,  he  gave  a 
pension  to  the  dreamer,  Omar,  and  a  high  office  to  the  ambitious 
Hassan.  But  the  latter,  jealous  of  his  comrade's  success,  plotted 
against  him  and  being  discovered  took  to  flight.  He  soon  joined 
the  fanatic  sect  of  the  Ismailites,  a  branch  of  the  Alid  heresy 
organized  into  a  sort  of  hierarchy,  only  the  upper  grades  of  which 
held  the  full  secrets  of  the  sect.  Hassan  saw  in  this  organization 
an  opportunity  to  raise  himself  again  to  power.  Establishing  his 
seat  at  the  Castle  of  Alamut  (the  Eagles'  Nest)  in  the  mountains 
of  northern  Persia  he  soon  drew  about  him  hundreds  of  Ismailites 
whom  he  proceeded  to  organize  into  a  brotherhood  of  murder. 
The  neophytes  were  taught  absolute  obedience  and  complete  self- 
surrender  and  then  sent  out  as  messengers  to  strike  down  the 
enemies  of  the  order,  nerved  on  by  promises  of  the  joys  of  Paradise 
if  they  fell.  Hassan  is  even  said  to  have  given  them  a  foretaste  of 
this  bliss  by  drugging  them  with  hashish  (whence  some  derive  the 
name  of  the  sect)  and  conveying  them  to  a  beautiful  garden,  where 
for  a  few  days  they  enjoyed  all  the  pleasures  of  the  Moslem 
Paradise. 

The  power  of  this  terrible  sect  spread  through  Persia  and  Syria 


FOREIGN     RULE  333 

1038-1223 

till  the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountains  (Sheikh  al  Jebal),  as  the  chief 
of  the  order  was  called,  ruled  over  a  hundred  castles.  The  murders 
committed  by  the  Assassins  were  often  aimless  and  indeed  the 
order  resembled  in  many  ways  the  militant  anarchists  of  to-day. 
Despite  the  terror  they  spread  throughout  the  East  the  sovereigns 
of  the  day  found  them  too  useful  as  instruments  of  revenge  to 
attempt  to  suppress  the  scourge  and  they  continued  to  flourish  till 
the  general  catastrophe  of  the  Mongol  conquest. 

The  Seljuk  period  of  Persian  history  is  the  golden  age  of 
Persian  literature,  and  especially  of  poetry.  Princes  and  atabegs 
were  proud  to  maintain  poets  and  philosophers  at  their  courts  and 
themselves  sometimes  aspired  to  be  men  of  letters.  We  have  seen 
how  Mahmud  of  Ghazni  maintained  at  his  court  Ferdousi,  who  sang 
the  exploits  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Iran.  Among  the  host  of  great 
poets  who  succeeded  him  we  can  only  note  a  few  names  in  passing : 
Abul  Hasan  Rudegi,  who  rose  to  such  favor  that  he  possessed  two 
hundred  slaves  to  wait  on  him ;  Nizami,  the  romantic  author  of  the 
Chamshe,  to  whom  for  one  poem  Kisil  Arslan  of  Roum  gave  four- 
teen estates;  Nasir  i  Khusran,  traveler  and  philosopher;  Djalal- 
ed-din,  mystic  and  saint ;  Omar  Khayyam,  satirist,  philosopher,  and 
mathematician,  best  known  to  us  for  his  Rubaiyat ;  and  a  little  later 
Sheikh  Muskhu-'d-Din,  called  Sa'di,  the  unrivaled  didactic  poet, 
author  of  the  divans  of  "  Bustan  (Fruit  Garden),"  and  "  Gulistan 
(Rose  Garden),"  who  ranks  next  to  Hafiz  as  the  most  popular  of 
Persian  poets.  It  is  a  striking  tribute  to  the  Persian  love  of  the 
beautiful  that  Sa'di's  tomb,  and  that  of  Hafiz  as  well,  are  to  this  day 
favorite  goals  of  pilgrimage.  Literary  activity  was,  however,  by 
no  means  confined  to  poetry,  as  the  career  of  the  versatile  Omar 
Khayyam  shows.  Omar  was  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  mathe- 
matics, an  astronomer  of  note,  and  one  of  eight  to  draw  up  a 
new  calendar  by  order  of  Malak  Shah  which  closely  approaches  our 
own  in  accuracy. 

While  the  brilliant  empire  of  the  Seljuks  was  entering  into 
its  period  of  decay  and  disintegration,  in  another  part  of  Asia  a 
power  was  in  process  of  formation  destined  to  affect  fundamentally 
the  history  of  Asia  and  of  eastern  Europe.  Persia  from  its  position 
on  the  southern  highway  between  east  and  west  had  always  been 
subject  to  the  inroads  of  these  eastern  hordes  which  since  the  days 
of  Attila  had  been  precipitated  wave  on  wave  westward  from  the 
borders  of  China.  Hitherto  Iran  had,  even  when  conquered  by  arms, 


334  PERSIA 

1223-1256 

been  able  to  maintain  and  even  extend  her  influence  over  the  in- 
vaders from  Turan.  Thus  the  Seljuk  conquest  was  that  of  a 
people  in  entire  religious  sympathy  with  their  Iranian  neighbors, 
and  Seljuk  rule  had  proved  a  blessing  instead  of  a  scourge.  But 
the  new  hordes  which  now  poured  west  and  south  from  the  vast 
deserts  of  central  Asia  were  entirely  alien  to  Persia  in  race,  creed, 
and  culture. 

In  1205,  Temuchen,  after  years  of  warfare,  united  under  his 
sway  all  the  Mongol  tribes  from  the  deserts  of  Siberia  to  the 
borders  of  China,  and  was  proclaimed  by  them  khakan  or  emperor, 
assuming  the  title  of  Genghis  Khan.  After  firmly  establishing  his 
power  and  creating  a  marvelous  military  organization,  Genghis  sent 
forth  his  generals  west  and  south  for  the  conquest  of  the  world.  The 
dispute  which  led  to  the  invasion  of  Persia  was  provoked  by  the 
powerful  sultan  of  Khuarezm,  Ala-ad-din  Mohammed,  who  wan- 
tonly put  to  death  several  Mongol  merchants,  as  well  as  an  envoy 
sent  to  demand  reparation.  In  1220  the  Mongol  armies  poured 
into  Khuarezm,  took  Samarkand  and  Bokhara,  and  forced  the  sultan 
to  flight.  From  Turkestan  the  Mongols  invaded  Khurasan,  and 
the  last  Khuarezm  sultan,  Djala-ud-din,  after  a  glorious,  though 
vain  resistance,  perished,  a  fugitive,  in  the  hills  of  Kurdistan.  The 
invaders  contented  themselves  with  ravaging  the  conquered  terri- 
tories, and  the  civil  wars  which  broke  out  after  the  death  of 
Genghis  Khan,  in  1227,  left  Persia  in  peace  for  twenty  years. 
Genghis  Khan  in  dividing  his  territories  among  his  sons  gave 
Khurasan  and  Persia  to  the  youngest.  But  no  attempt  was  made 
to  take  possession  of  these  lands  till  the  accession  of  Mangu  as 
khakan,  who  promptly  dispatched  his  brother  Hulagu  to  secure 
his  inheritance.  Hulagu  with  a  vast  army  of  horsemen  and  thou- 
sands of  Chinese  engineers,  skilled  in  the  siege  of  towns,  entered 
Khurasan,  in  1256,  and  marching  westward  stamped  out  the  As- 
sassins, took  Bagdad,  and  put  to  death  the  Abbasside  kalif,  Al- 
Mustassem.  The  great  city  was,  we  are  told,  given  up  to  massacre 
till  the  Tigris  was  swelled  with  the  blood  of  the  victims.  With 
the  fall  of  Bagdad  the  Abbasside  kalifate  practically  comes  to  an 
end.  A  descendant  of  the  house  fled  to  Egypt  and  a  shadowy 
succession  of  kalifs  remained  there  till  the  last  of  them  surrendered 
his  title  and  claims  to  the  Ottoman  sultan,  Selim.  The  petty  states 
of  the  atabega  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  Mongols,  and  Hulagu  met 
little  resistance  till  he  was  defeated  in  Syria  by  the  Mameluke  sultan 


FOREIGN     RULE  335 

1256-1295 

of  Egypt — the  first  check  to  the  Mongol  armies,  hitherto  deemed 
invincible. 

The  Mongol  conquest  completed  in  1258  was  the  most  disas- 
trous Persia  had  ever  experienced.  All  resistance  was  punished  by 
indiscriminate  massacres  and  the  most  revolting  cruelties.  Many  of 
the  famous  cities  of  olden  times  like  Merv  and  Nishapur,  which  had 
survived  the  Arab  and  Turkish  conquests  and  even  flourished 
under  them  were  now  blotted  out,  while  the  greatest  of  all,  Bagdad, 
never  recovered  from  the  effects  of  Mongol  fury.  Only  Fars,  the 
ancient  Persia  proper,  was  saved  from  the  general  ruin  by  its 
prompt  submission,  and  to  this  we  owe  the  fact  that  Persian  civil- 
ization was  not  completely  wiped  out. 

H.ulagu  established  his  capital  at  Maragha,  a  delightful  spot 
among  the  hills  of  Azerbaijan,  where  he  died  in  1268.  His  suc- 
cessors, once  the  conquest  was  completed,  immediately  set  to  work 
to  repair  their  own  ravages  and  to  make  some  attempts  at  assimila- 
tion with  their  more  cultivated  subjects.  At  the  time  of  the  con- 
quest the  Mongols  were  pantheists,  worshiping  the  powers  of  nature, 
and  hence,  though  far  more  tolerant  than  any  other  people  of  the 
age,  they  were  utterly  abhorrent  to  their  Mohammedan  subjects. 
Ahmad  Khan,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  1282,  was  the  first  to 
adopt  Islam.  But  having  ordered  a  general  persecution  of  Chris- 
tians he  so  aroused  the  anger  of  his  followers  that  they  revolted  and 
put  him  to  death.  His  nephew  Arghun,  1284-1291,  reversed  the 
policy  of  his  predecessor,  held  to  the  ancient  faith,  persecuted  the 
Mohammedans,  and  treated  the  Christians  with  such  favor  that 
Pope  Nicholas  IV.  sent  an  embassy  to  thank  him  for  his  kind- 
ness. Arghun  seems  to  have  corresponded  with  several  European 
sovereigns  and  especially  with  Philip  IV.  of  France,  to  whom  he 
proposed  an  offensive  alliance  against  the  Mohammedan  sultan  of 
Egypt.  The  reign  of  his  successor,  Kai-Khatu,  a  weak  and  ex- 
travagant prince,  is  notable  for  a  curious  attempt  to  introduce  the 
use  of  paper  currency  into  Persia.  The  use  of  paper  money 
became  known  to  the  Mongols  through  their  relations  with  China, 
where  it  had  been  commonly  employed  for  some  time.  Kai-Khatu 
having  exhausted  his  resources  bethought  himself  of  this  expedient 
to  refill  the  treasury.  A  decree  was  issued  prohibiting  the  cir- 
culation of  the  precious  metals  and  establishing  in  every  city  bank- 
ing houses,  called  Tschan  Khana,  where  banknotes  should  be  made 
and  issued.    These  notes,  varying  in  value  from  one-half  a  dirhem 


336  PERSIA 

1295-1336 

(six  cents)  to  ten  dirhems  ($1.20),  were  oblong  pieces  of  paper 
bearing  besides  a  short  inscription  in  Chinese,  the  Mohammedan 
confession  of  faith  and  the  Tatar  titles  of  the  king  of  Persia.  The 
value  of  the  note  was  inscribed  in  the  center,  together  with  the  date 
of  issue  and  a  mandate  commanding  all  to  receive  this  currency. 
The  scheme  was,  however,  a  failure,  for  it  aroused  such  general 
execration  throughout  all  the  empire  that  Kai-Khatu  was  forced 
to  withdraw  it  to  avoid  a  general  rising.  It  was  in  the  same  reign 
that  Marco  Polo  the  Venetian,  after  a  residence  of  many  years  at 
the  court  of  the  Great  Khan  in  China  came  to  Persia  on  his  way 
home  in  the  suite  of  a  Tatar  princess  sent  to  become  the  wife  of  the 
Persian  king. 

Kai-Khatu  was  succeeded  in  1295  by  Ghazan  Mahmud,  the 
ablest  of  the  Mongol  line.  Ghazan  began  his  reign  by  a  vigorous 
effort  to  break  the  power  of  the  turbulent  Mongol  chiefs  who  had 
become  semi-independent  princes.  To  gain  the  support  of  the 
masses  of  the  people  in  his  struggle,  he  took  the  decisive  step  of 
making  public  profession  of  his  conversion  to  Mohammedanism 
and  his  example  was  followed  by  100,000  Mongol  warriors. 
Ghazan  Mahmud  did  much  to  reform  and  consolidate  his  empire 
and  the  institutes  which  he  caused  to  be  drawn  up  formed  a  model 
of  administrative  law  for  his  successors.  But  his  work  was  only 
of  temporary  duration  and  the  long  minority  of  his  grandson  Abu 
Said  saw  the  breakup  of  the  empire  amid  civil  wars.  On  its  ruins 
arose  a  host  of  petty  states  governed  by  Mongol  or  native  chieftains. 
Of  these  local  dynasties  which  thus  enjoyed  a  brief  existence  the 
only  one  worthy  of  note  was  that  of  the  Muzaffarids,  13 13-1393, 
founded  by  Mubarz-ad-din,  called  Muzaffar  "  the  Victorious." 
This  ruler  held  the  province  of  Fars  as  well  as  Kirman  and 
Kurdistan,  adopting  as  his  capital  the  famous  Shiraz,  the  garden 
of  Persia  and  the  darling  of  poets.  Here  at  the  court  of  the 
Muzaffarids  flourished  Hafiz,  called  Lishan  ul  Ghaid,  the  greatest 
of  Persian  poets  and  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  time.  Hafiz  was  by 
profession  a  dervish  and  taught  in  the  college  at  Shiraz.  His  fame 
rests  on  his  odes,  whose  exquisite  sweetness  gained  for  him  the 
title  of  Tschegerleb  or  Sugarlip.  He  sings  of  beauty  and  pleasure 
in  all  their  varied  forms;  of  love,  wine,  flowers,  nightingales. 
Occasionally,  too,  in  praise  of  God  and  his  Prophet,  lashing  with 
bitter  scorn  all  manner  of  hypocrisy,  self-righteousness,  and  narrow 
abhorrence  of  the  good  things  of  this  world.    The  poetry  of  Hafiz 


FOREIGN     RULE  337 

1336-1401 

has  suffered  the  same  fate  as  the  Song-  of  Songs  and  the  Rubaiyat, 
for  pious  interpreters  of  the  poet  have  tried  to  invest  his  sensuous 
verses  with  depths  of  hidden  meaning,  religious  allegory,  and  mys- 
tical utterances.  However  this  may  be,  the  odes  as  pure  poetry 
stand  without  rival.  Laden  with  the  sweetest  melody  and  clothed 
in  gorgeous  imagery  they  are  yet  chastened  by  a  classic  purity  of 
style  and  a  clear  and  unaffected  diction.  Hafiz  was  during  his  life 
pursued  by  the  hatred  of  the  priesthood  whose  outward  piety  and 
hypocrisy  he  scorned  and  satirized.  But  after  his  death  his  lyrics 
soon  became  a  national  and  sacred  poetry  and  his  tomb  without 
the  walls  of  Shiraz  and  not  distant  from  that  of  Sa'di,  became  a 
favorite  shrine  for  pilgrims. 

The  Muzaffarid  dynasty  after  a  short  term  of  splendor  fell 
before  the  mightiest  conqueror  who  had  yet  invaded  the  soil  of 
Persia.  Amir  Timur,  surnamed  Leng,  or  the  Lame,  was  -born 
in  the  province  of  Samarkand  about  the  year  1336.  After  many 
adventures  and  vicissitudes  which  are  related  in  his  "  Institutes  " 
he  became  by  1380  the  undisputed  ruler  of  Turkestan  and  Kashgar, 
overthrowing  the  power  of  the  Mongol  khans.  Then  turning 
southward  he  ravaged  Afghanistan  and  Khurasan,  turning  them 
into  deserts.  In  1384,  Timur  entered  Persia  and  easily  overthrew 
the  last  of  the  Mongol  princes.  The  great  city  of  Ispahan  at  first 
submitted  but  suddenly  revolted  and  put  its  Tatar  garrison  to  death. 
Timur  retook  the  town  and  to  make  an  example  ordered  a  general 
massacre  of  all  the  inhabitants.  Seventy  thousand  heads  were 
raised  in  ghastly  pyramids  as  a  monument  to  his  revenge  and  a 
warning  to  those  who  dared  oppose  him. 

Recalled  for  a  time  by  a  war  against  the  Golden  Horde  of 
Russia  which  he  speedily  overthrew,  Timur  again  entered  Persia 
in  1393.  All  the  princes  submitted  at  once  save  the  Muzzafarid 
Mansur  Shah,  who,  with  his  army  of  mailclad  horsemen  made  a 
brave  resistance  and  fell  in  battle.  The  provinces  of  old  Persia 
which  had  escaped  the  horrors  of  the  Mongol  invasion  now  felt 
the  scarcely  less  thorough  ravages  of  the  Tatars.  The  capture  of 
Bagdad  completed  the  conquest  of  Persia  and  Timur,  placing  the 
government  in  the  hands  of  his  sons,  returned  to  his  favorite 
residence  of  Samarkand. 

The  following  years  were  occupied  by  campaigns  in  such 
widely  separated  regions  as  Russia  and  Hindustan.  The  year  1401 
saw  Timur  again  in  Persia  preparing  for  the  culminating  struggle 


338 


PERSIA 


1401-1405 


of  his  life  against  the  sultan  of  the  Ottoman  Turks.  The  issue  was 
decided  in  the  field  of  Angora,  where  the  discipline  of  the  Turkish 
troops  was  of  no  avail  against  the  generalship  of  Timur  and  the 
vastly  superior  numbers  of  the  Tatars.  Sultan  Bayezid  was  taken 
prisoner  to  die  of  mortification  and  despair,  while  the  Tatar 
armies  swept  across  Asia  Minor,  took  and  destroyed  Smyrna  and 
appeared  on  the  shores  of  the  Bosporus.  Here  the  sea,  an  utterly 
alien  element  to  the  horsemen  of  Timur,  checked  further  advance. 


Timur  did  not  long  survive  this,  his  greatest  triumph.     He  died 
in  1405  while  preparing  to  lead  an  invasion  of  China. 

At  the  close  of  his  life  Timur  could  look  back  on  thirty  years 
of  constant  warfare  in  which  he  had  ravaged  the  continent  from 
China  to  Egypt,  from  Delhi  to  Moscow.  He  died  lord  of  an  empire 
beside  which  the  Roman  and  the  Macedonian  shrink  into  insig- 
nificance. Amir  Timur  (he  never  assumed  a  higher  title)  was,  we 
are  told,  of  good  stature,  somewhat  corpulent,  with  a  fair  com- 
plexion and  wonderfully  brilliant  eyes.  He  was  a  devout  Moham- 
medan, esteeming  his  conquest  of  the  pagans  of  Hindustan  to  be 
the  proudest  achievement  of  his  life.  Purely  a  conqueror  and 
destroyer,  he  inflicted  an  incalculable  amount  of  suffering  on  the 
human  race  and  lacked  either  the  desire  or  the  capacity  for  organ- 


FOREIGN     RULE  S39 

1405-1502 

izing  his  conquests.  Yet  he  possessed  some  attractive  qualities 
and  was  by  no  means  a  barbarian.  He  was  a  man  of  some  culture, 
an  admirer  of  Hafiz  and  a  zealous  patron  of  literature  among  his 
own  people,  laying  the  foundations  for  an  extensive  literature  in 
Jagetai-Turki.  He  himself  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  author 
of  two  works — his  "  Memoirs,"  and  the  "  Institutes,"  which  have 
aroused  the  admiration  of  no  less  a  person  than  the  historian  Gib- 
bon. His  marvelous  achievements  were  largely  made  possible  by 
the  conditions  of  Asia  on  his  appearance.  The  Mongol  dynasties 
were  everywhere  falling  to  pieces,  while  his  most  dangerous  op- 
ponents, the  Ottoman  Turks,  had  not  yet  reached  their  full  growth. 
But  the  secret  of  his  success  lies  still  more  in  his  own  inexhaustible 
energy  and  unfailing  activity.  "  When  I  clothed  myself  in  the 
robes  of  empire  "  he  says  in  the  "  Institutes,"  "  I  shut  my  eyes  to 
safety  and  to  the  repose  which  is  found  on  the  bed  of  ease." 

Timur  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Kulil  Sultan,  whose  amours 
with  the  beautiful  Shad-ul-Mulk  are  famous  in  eastern  story  and 
ended  by  costing  him  his  throne.  His  place  was  taken  by  the  fourth 
son  of  Timur,  Shah  Rokh,  a  wise  and  peaceful  prince  who  had 
governed  Persia  during  his  father's  reign.  Shah  Rokh  owed  his 
name  to  his  father's  enthusiasm  for  chess,  for  Timur  had  just 
checkmated  an  opponent  with  his  rook  or  castle  when  the  news 
of  his  son's  birth  was  brought  to  him.  Shah  Rokh's  reign  was 
spent  in  a  constant  effort  to  repair  the  ravages  of  his  father,  but 
with  his  death  in  1446  the  unwieldy  empire  broke  up  in  a  turmoil 
of  civil  wars  between  a  host  of  claimants.  The  Persian  provinces 
remained  nominally  subject  to  the  descendants  of  Timur,  Babar, 
Abu  Seid,  and  Husein  Mirza,  who  lost  their  provinces  one  by  one 
to  the  Turkomans. 

The  Turkomans  were  a  nomad  people  of  Turkish  race  who 
had  settled  in  Anatolia  and  Armenia  and  had  split  into  two  rival 
tribes,  the  Black  Sheep  and  the  White  Sheep.  In  1466  Uzum 
Hasan  (Hasan  the  Long),  chief  of  the  White  Sheep,  overthrew 
the  prince  of  the  rival  tribe  and  became  ruler  of  all  Armenia  and 
Kurdistan.  Continuing  his  conquests  he  soon  routed  the  weak 
successor  of  Timur  and  added  most  of  Persia  to  his  domains.  He 
was  less  successful,  however,  in  a  contest  with  Mohammed  II.,  the 
great  Ottoman  sultan,  and  his  empire  was  a  purely  personal  one 
and  did  not  long  survive  him. 


Chapter    III 

THE   NEW   PERSIAN   EMPIRE.     1502-1733 

THE  death  of  Hasan  marks  an  epoch  in  Persian  history. 
With  him  ended  the  series  of  foreign  tyrannies  which  had 
followed  in  rapid  succession  since  the  decline  of  the  Ab- 
bassides.  In  their  stead  arose  a  very  different  sort  of  dynasty  based 
on  the  national  and  religious  sympathies  of  the  people.  From  the 
sacred  province  of  Azerbaijan,  the  traditional  home  of  the  prophet 
Zoroaster,  came  the  race  of  the  Safi,  destined  to  carry  out  the 
second  great  religious  revival  in  Persian  history  and  to  establish  a 
native  monarchy,  the  Safawi  dynasty,  such  as  had  not  existed  since 
the  fall  of  the  Sassanidse. 

We  have  seen  what  causes  led  to  the  rise  of  the  Alid  or  Aliite 
sect,  whose  cardinal  doctrines  were  reverence  for  Ali  and  his  de- 
scendants as  the  Twelve  Imams,  the  true  successors  of  the  Prophet, 
and  rejection  of  the  regular  line  of  kalifs  as  well  as  of  the  Sunna 
or  body  of  tradition  collected  in  their  reigns.  The  followers  of 
Ali,  called  by  their  opponents  Shiahs  (sectaries),  made  most  of 
their  converts  in  Persia,  where  hatred  of  the  Arabs  and  a  strong 
inclination  to  mysticism  caused  the  people  to  accept  with  gladness 
the  new  belief.  Thus  in  spite  of  long  persecution  the  Shiahs  made 
continual  progress  and  at  the  period  we  have  reached  formed  the 
bulk  of  the  population.  Among  these  sectaries  the  Safi  family, 
descended  through  Sheikh  Safi  from  the  seventh  Imam,  Musa 
al  Kasim,  was  highly  reverenced  both  for  noble  birth  and  extreme 
sanctity.  In  the  days  of  Timur,  the  learned  Sheikh  Sudder-ud-Din 
was  sought  out  by  the  conqueror  after  his  Turkish  campaign  and 
asked  what  favor  could  be  done  him.  "  Release  the  tribes  you 
have  led  captive,"  was  the  reply  of  the  sheikh.  Timur  did  so  and 
the  seven  Turkish  tribes,  full  of  gratitude,  became  ardent  disciples 
of  the  holy  man.  Jumeyd,  the  grandson  of  Sudder-ud-Din,  became 
so  influential  and  was  followed  by  such  crowds  of  pupils  that  Shah 
Jahan  in  fear  banished  him  from  Azerbaijan  and  forced  him  to  take 
refuge  with  Uzum  Hasan,  whose  daughter  he  married.     In  the 

340 


THE     NEW     PERSIAN     EMPIRE  341 

1502-1524 

confusion  which  followed  the  death  of  Hasan,  Sheikh  Ismail,  grand- 
son of  Jumeyd,  rose  in  revolt  against  the  Turkomans,  whom  he 
quickly  defeated  and  at  the  end  of  four  years  found  himself  master 
of  all  Persia,  1502.  Thus  easily,  by  aid  of  religious  sympathy 
and  appeals  to  national  feeling,  was  this  momentous  revolution 
accomplished. 

Ismail,  once  his  creed  and  authority  were  firmly  established 
throughout  Persia,  turned  to  attack  the  Uzbegs,  who,  under  Shak- 
ban  Khan,  had  overthrown  the  Timurid  dynasty  in  Turkestan. 
In  1 5 10  the  Uzbegs  were  defeated  and  driven  from  Khurasan  and 
Afghanistan.  A  more  dangerous  enemy  was  the  Ottoman  sultan 
Selim,  a  fanatical  Sunnite  or  orthodox  Mohammedan. 

The  Ottoman  Turks  had  first  come  into  collision  with  the 
Persians  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of  Timur.  Now  as  rulers  of 
Asia  Minor  and  conquerors  of  Constantinople  they  became  the 
logical  enemies  of  Persia,  as  had  been  their  predecessors,  the  Roman 
emperors.  Mohammed  II.  engaged  in  the  old  frontier  struggle 
with  Uzum  Hasan.  Now  in  the  days  of  his  grandson  the  religious 
schism  had  arisen  to  widen  the  breach  and  array  the  two  leading 
Mohammedan  powers  against  each  other  as  implacable  foes.  Selim 
preceded  his  attack  on  Persia  by  a  general  massacre  of  the  Shiahs 
in  his  dominions,  40,000  of  whom  were  put  to  death.  He  then 
proclaimed  a  holy  war  against  Ismail,  declaring  that  the  death  of 
one  Shiah  was  equivalent  to  that  of  seventy  Christians.  The  two 
armies  met  in  15 14  in  the  great  battle  of  Chalderan. 

The  Turkish  artillery  and  the  janizaries  decided  the  day 
against  Persia  despite  the  bravery  of  Ismail,  who  led  his  cavalry  in 
desperate  charges  to  the  very  mouths  of  the  Turkish  cannon. 
Ismail's  capital,  Tabriz,  was  captured  and  all  Persarmenia  and 
Mesopotamia  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Ottomans.  Selim's  wars 
against  Egypt  and  his  death  in  1520  enabled  Ismail  to  recover  his 
strength  and  even  to  conquer  Georgia,  but  he  was  unable  to  recover 
the  lost  provinces.  He  died  in  1524  while  on  a  pilgrimage  to  his 
father's  tomb  at  Ardebil  and  was  mourned  by  all  his  subjects, 
among  whom  he  was  regarded  as  a  saint. 

The  reign  of  Ismail  was  of  vital  moment,  not  only  to  Persia, 
which  he  left  once  more  an  independent  state,  but  to  the  whole 
Mohammedan  world.  Islam  was  now  definitely  split  into  two  great 
religious  parties,  whose  hatred  for  each  other  was  even  greater  than 
that  they  entertained  for  unbelievers.    The  result  for  Christianity 


342  PERSIA 

1524-1585 

was  of  incalculable  benefit.  Had  the  sultans  of  Turkey  obtained 
recognition  of  their  succession  to  the  kalifate  from  Persia  and  made 
of  her  a  devoted  ally  instead  of  a  bitter  foe,  the  danger  to  Europe, 
already  seriously  threatened  by  the  single  might  of  the  Ottomans, 
would  have  been  vastly  increased,  and  the  flood  of  conquest  might 
not  have  been  stayed  at  the  walls  of  Vienna.  But  the  Ottoman 
empire  and  Persia,  far  from  uniting  under  the  banner  of  Islam, 
wasted  their  best  strength  in  bloody  and  indecisive  conflicts  with 
each  other.  The  Mohammedan  schism,  as  great  in  its  effect  on 
the  East  as  was  the  Reformation  on  the  West,  must  be  reckoned 
among  the  most  potent  elements  which  have  assisted  in  the  final 
triumph  of  the  Cross  over  the  Crescent. 

Shah  Ismail  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Tamasp,  a  man  of  little 
ability  or  energy.  His  reign  was  marked  by  wars  with  the  maraud- 
ing Uzbegs  on  the  one  hand  and  with  the  Turks  on  the  other. 
The  Sultan  Suleiman  the  Magnificent  made  no  less  than  six  Persian 
campaigns,  and  though  always  meeting  with  a  valiant  resistance, 
conquered  anew  Armenia  and  Mesopotamia,  with  the  cities  of 
Erivan,  Van,  Mosul,  and,  chief  of  all,  Bagdad.  However,  despite 
these  losses  the  reign  of  Tamasp  was  in  general  a  prosperous  one. 
His  alliance  was  sought  by  the  chief  European  powers,  who  re- 
garded Persia  as  a  bulwark  against  the  threatening  power  of  the 
Ottoman  empire,  now  in  its  zenith.  An  Englishman,  Anthony 
Jenkinson,  was  sent  by  Queen  Elizabeth  to  open  commercial  rela- 
tions with  Persia.  But  he  met  with  little  encouragement,  for 
Tamasp,  a  very  zealous  man,  dismissed  him  on  learning  that  he  was 
a  Christian.  One  blot  on  the  character  of  Tamasp  is  his  surrender 
to  Sultan  Suleiman  of  Prince  Bayazid,  to  whom  he  had  promised 
protection.  He  did  better  by  the  fugitive  emperor  of  India,  Hu- 
mayun,  son  of  Babar,  whom  he  welcomed  heartily  and  assisted  in 
recovering  his  throne. 

The  death  of  Tamasp  in  1576  was  followed  by  a  period  of  dis- 
order in  which  his  sons  strove  for  the  mastery,  aided  by  the  rival 
Kuzul  Bash  tribes.  The  Kuzul  Bash,  who  play  a  great  part  in  the 
modern  history  of  Persia,  were  the  seven  Turkish  tribes  released 
by  Timur,  who  attached  themselves  to  the  Safawi  family  and  aided 
Ismail  to  gain  the  throne.  Their  leaders  held  important  positions 
in  the  government ;  and  the  army  and  the  tribesmen,  always  turbu- 
lent and  unruly,  were  often  as  dangerous  supporters  of  the  monarchy 
as  were  the  pretorians  at  Rome  or  the  janizaries  at  Constantinople. 


THE     NEW     PERSIAN     EMPIRE  343 

1585-1602 

In  1585  the  period  of  confusion  was  closed  by  the  accession  of 
the  young  Abbas,  who  had  been  brought  up  as  nominal  governor 
of  Khurasan  under  the  tutelage  of  Ali  Kuli  Khan.  Abbas's  first 
care  was  directed  to  clearing  the  country  of  foreign  invaders.  Tak- 
ing advantage  of  the  confusion  in  Persia,  the  Turks  had  invaded 
Azerbaijan  and  made  themselves  masters  of  Tabriz,  while  the  Uzbegs 
had  raided  Khurasan,  stormed  Herat  and  Mashad,  and  massacred 
the  inhabitants.  A  rapid  campaign  cleared  Azerbaijan  and  Ghilan 
of  the  Turks.  Then  by  the  decisive  battle  of  Herat  the  Uzbegs  were 
so  badly  punished  that  Persia  was  long  freed  from  their  inroads. 
Meantime,  the  generals  of  Abbas  were  occupied  in  asserting  the 
shah's  authority  along  the  Persian  Gulf.  The  pearl  islands,  of 
which  the  chief  is  Bahrein,  were  subdued  and  the  mountainous 
district  of  Lars,  whose  chief  claimed  descent  from  one  of  the 
companions  of  Rustam,  was  reconquered.  Among  the  spoils 
was  a  crown  said  to  have  belonged  to  Khai  Khusru  (Cyrus  the 
Great) . 

The  chief  danger  to  Abbas's  throne  lay  always  in  the  Otto- 
man power,  which  still  kept  its  grip  on  Mesopotamia,  Kurdistan, 
and  part  of  Azerbaijan,  the  native  province  of  the  Safi.  Abbas 
fully  realized  that  the  irregular  Persian  lines  were  no  match  for  the 
trained  infantry  and  splendid  artillery  of  the  Turks.  Consequently 
he  gladly  accepted  the  services  of  two  English  gentlemen-adven- 
turers, Sir  Anthony  and  Sir  Robert  Shirley,  who  set  to  work  to 
improve  the  Persian  artillery  and  to  organize  a  body  of  infantry 
trained  like  the  janizaries.  Hitherto  the  pick  of  the  army  had  been 
drawn  from  the  Kuzul  Bash  tribesmen,  always  unruly  and  deeming 
themselves  masters  of  the  country.  The  new  system  reduced  the 
numbers  of  this  dangerous  soldiery  and  gave  to  Abbas  a  better 
organized  and  more  dependable  force.  By  1602  the  shah's  plans 
were  perfected  and  war  was  declared  with  the  Ottoman  empire. 
Abbas  marched  with  65,000  men  into  Azerbaijan,  calling  his  people 
to  arms  in  the  holy  war  against  the  enemies  of  Ali  and  the  family 
of  the  Prophet.  A  decisive  battle  was  fought  between  100,000 
Turks  against  the  famous  Christian  renegade  Cigala  and  the  Persian 
army  led  by  the  shah  in  person,  whose  superior  generalship  carried 
the  day.  The  complete  triumph  of  the  Persians  was  followed 
by  the  reconquest  of  the  lost  provinces  of  Azerbaijan,  Georgia, 
Kurdistan,  and  Bagdad,  and  with  them  the  sacred  places  of  the 
Shiahs,  Kerbela,  where  Hosein  had  met  his  fate,  and  Samrah.    The 


344  PERSIA 

1602-1628 

Turks  kept  up  a  constant  border  warfare  throughout  the  reign  of 
Abbas,  but  the  disputed  provinces  remained  in  Persian  hands. 

The  victories  of  Abbas  over  the  Turks,  still  the  most  dreaded 
power  of  the  day,  raised  him  to  the  front  rank  among  princes,  and 
caused  his  friendship  to  be  courted  by  all  the  European  states.  The 
period  of  European  expansion  into  the  East  was  now  well  under  way, 
and  the  English,  the  Portuguese,  the  Spaniards,  and  the  Dutch  were 
busy  laying  the  foundations  of  their  Asiatic  empires.  With  the 
English  and  the  Dutch,  who  threatened  him  in  no  way,  Abbas  kept 
on  the  best  of  terms  and  encouraged  commercial  intercourse  be- 
tween them  and  his  subjects.  With  the  Portuguese,  the  first  comers 
in  the  field,  the  case  was  different,  for  the  settlements  made  by 
Albuquerque  on  the  Persian  Gulf  seemed  to  threaten  the  para- 
mountcy  of  Persia  in  that  region.  Of  these  settlements,  that  of 
Ormuz  at  the  mouth  of  the  gulf  was  the  most  prosperous  and  the 
most  coveted  by  the  Persian  monarch.  The  Island  of  Ormuz  had 
been  conquered  about  the  year  15 14  by  Albuquerque,  the  great 
Portuguese  viceroy  of  the  Indies.  In  spite  of  the  barrenness  and  the 
terrific  heat  of  the  spot,  a  city  was  founded  which  from  its  favorable 
position  soon  became  an  emporium  of  trade  for  Turkey,  Persia, 
Arabia,  and  India.  It  is  said  that  when  Shah  Ismail  sent  to  Al- 
buquerque demanding  the  tribute  formerly  paid  by  the  princes  of 
the  island,  the  viceroy  sent  back  swords  and  bullets  with  the 
message :  "  This  is  the  coin  with  which  Portugal  pays  her  tribute." 
Thanks  to  the  respect  inspired  by  the  great  Portuguese,  Ormuz 
remained  unmolested  until  Abbas  thought  to  make  its  wealth  his 
own.  In  alliance  with  the  English,  the  jealous  rivals  of  the  Port- 
uguese, Abbas  attacked  the  city  and  conquered  it  in  1622.  But  the 
shah  found  that  instead  of  gaining  the  riches  he  desired,  he  had 
destroyed  the  trade  which  had  added  so  much  to  the  prosperity  of  his 
country.  Ormuz  naturally  declined,  and  in  spite  of  .English  efforts, 
its  vast  commerce  disappeared  or  turned  into  other  channels. 

Though  Shah  Abbas  ranks  among  the  first  of  Persian  warriors, 
his  real  title  to  fame  rests  on  his  internal  achievements  rather  than 
on  his  conquests.  Ispahan,  his  capital,  was  beautified  with  broad 
avenues,  stately  mosques,  and  splendid  palaces,  so  that  it  became 
the  most  glorious  city  of  Asia.  Its  walls  were  twenty-four  miles  in 
circuit  and  its  population  is  said  to  have  reached  a  million.  It 
became  the  emporium  of  Asiatic  trade  and  in  its  bazaars  could  be 
found  the  merchandise  and  products  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa. 


THE     NEW     PERSIAN     EMPIRE 


345 


1582-1628 


The  favorite  palace  of  the  shah,  the  Chehel  Sitton  or  Forty- 
Columns,  was  situated  in  a  park  outside  the  city  walls.  Along 
the  front  of  the  palace  ran  a  double  row  of  columns,  each  rising  from 
the  backs  of  four  white  marble  lions.  These  pillars  were  inlaid  with 
mirrors,  and  the  walls  and  ceilings  of  the  palace  were  decorated  with 
crystal  and  gold.  The  Great  Mosque  in  Ispahan  was  also  the  work 
of  Abbas.     But  the  shah  did  not  confine  his  efforts  to  the  capital,  for 


his  activity  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  empire.  Roads  were  im- 
proved, bridges  built,  and  huge  caravanseries  erected  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  travelers.  Justice  was  better  administered  and 
corruption  less  rife  than  at  any  time  since  the  days  of  the  Nizam-ul- 
Mulk.  Through  a  zealous  Mohammedan,  Abbas  was  tolerant  in  his 
views  and  encouraged  settlements  of  Jews  and  Christians  in  his 
dominions.  But  his  tolerance  did  not  extend  to  the  Sunnite  Mo- 
hammedans.    On  the  whole,  in  spite  of  such  mistakes  as  the  de- 


346  PERSIA 

1582-1628 

struction  of  Ormuz,  we  must  regard  Abbas  as  one  of  the  most 
enlightened  of  Mohammedan  rulers  and  fully  deserving  of  that  title 
too  often  indiscriminately  applied — "  the  Great."  He  ranks  with 
Khusru  Anushirwan  as  the  greatest  and  wisest  of  Persian  rulers. 

The  private  life  of  Abbas  forms  the  dark  side  of  his  character. 
He  was  by  nature  cruel  and  often  treacherous.  A  fearful  tyrant  in 
his  own  family,  he  was  seized  with  jealousy  of  his  own  sons,  who 
were  universally  beloved;  one  of  them  he  put  to  death,  two  others 
he  caused  to  be  blinded.  Yet  Abbas  was  capable  of  being  an  agree- 
able and  even  captivating  companion.  He  was  a  lover  of  good 
cheer,  drank  wine  despite  the  prohibition  of  the  Koran,  and  was 
somewhat  of  a  wit.  On  settling  a  colony  of  Christians  in  the 
province  of  Mazanderan  he  remarked  that  as  its  chief  products  were 
wine  and  hogs  they  would  consider  themselves  in  Paradise.  He 
died  in  1628  at  his  favorite  palace  of  Ferrahabad,  aged  seventy 
years. 

That  great  traveler,  Sir  John  Chardin,  tells  us  that  with  the 
death  of  Abbas  Persia  ceased  to  prosper,  and,  indeed,  it  seems  evi- 
dent that  the  Persian  character  which  had  in  the  past  given  proof  of 
its  virility  and  marvelous  power  of  recuperation,  now  degenerated 
under  the  peaceful  misgovernment  of  the  successors  of  the  great 
shah.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  account  with  exactness  for  this 
gradual  change  in  the  character  of  the  Persian  people.  Indeed,  it 
is  almost  unnoticeable  till  suddenly  the  great  empire  shows  its  full 
weakness  in  a  startling  manner,  and  falls  an  easy  prey  to  a  handful 
of  Afghan  warriors.  Right  here  lies  the  contrast  between  the  two 
great  Mohammedan  powers,  Turkey  and  Persia.  Both  have  suffered 
for  centuries  under  a  detestable  system  of  government;  but  while 
the  native  of  Persia  seems  to  have  lost  his  former  bravery  and 
independence  of  character  under  the  system,  the  Ottoman  Turk  with 
all  his  faults  retains  to-day  much  of  his  former  virility,  while  as  a 
soldier  he  has  few  superiors. 

With  the  descendants  of  Abbas  a  new  principle  enters  into  the 
royal  family.  The  royal  princes,  hitherto  trained  to  public  service 
in  war  and  government,  were  now  confined  by  oriental  jealousy  to 
the  harem,  with  the  inevitable  result  of  a  line  of  weak  and  debauched 
tyrants. 

Abbas's  successor,  his  grandson  Safi,  began  his  reign  by  mur- 
dering most  of  the  princes  of  the  blood,  as  well  as  many  of  the  most 
trusted  servants  of  his  grandfather.    He  is  even  accused  of  matricide. 


THE     NEW     PERSIAN     EMPIRE  347 

1628-1694 

These  cruelties  may  have  been  only  part  of  a  settled  design  to 
destroy  the  feudal  forces  in  Persia  and  thus  consolidate  the  royal 
authority;  but  the  only  result  was  to  deprive  Persia  of  her  ablest 
men  and  thus  weaken  her  strength.  In  the  reign  of  Safi,  the 
Uzbegs  resumed  their  raids  into  Khurasan,  the  emperor  of  Hindu- 
stan conquered  Kandahar,  and  the  Turks  recovered  Bagdad  and 
most  of  Mesopotamia.  Safi  died  from  the  effects  of  debauchery 
after  an  inglorious  reign  of  fourteen  years,  1628- 1642. 

A  temporary  reaction  came  with  the  accession  of  Abbas  II.,  a 
child  of  ten  years.  His  ministers,  zealous  Mohammedans,  insti- 
tuted a  strict  policy  of  reform  and  strove  to  put  down  the  vices 
which  were  sapping  the  nation's  strength.  But  the  very  strictness 
of  their  guardianship  may  have  driven  the  young  shah  to  the  op- 
posite extreme.  At  any  rate  Abbas  II.  was  a  worthy  emulator  of 
his  father,  indulging  in  the  most  fearful  debauches,  to  which 
Europeans  were  frequently  invited.  Though  capable  when  drunk 
of  the  worst  atrocities,  Abbas  was  in  the  main  a  just  and  mild  ruler. 
He  recovered  Kandahar  from  Shah  Jahan  of  Hindustan  and  kept 
on  the  best  of  terms  with  his  Ottoman  neighbors,  who  could  find 
no  weightier  reason  for  sending  an  embassy  to  Ispahan  than  the 
purchase  of  a  trick  elephant.  Abbas  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-four, 
overcome  like  his  father  by  the  effects  of  evil  living. 

His  son,  Safi  II.,  1666-1694,  inherited  the  dissolute  character 
of  Abbas.  He  was  governed  by  favorites  and  was  particularly  fond 
of  Europeans,  who  found  a  sure  path  to  his  favor  by  presents  of 
wine.  A  story  told  of  Safi  illustrates  the  superstition  of  the  Persian 
monarchs  and  their  dependence  on  astrologers  and  soothsayers. 
The  shah  was  once  taken  very  ill  and  it  was  discovered  that  he  had 
been  crowned  on  a  day  of  evil  omen.  Accordingly,  when  he  had 
recovered,  Safi  vacated  the  throne  for  a  day  and  was  then  recrowned 
under  more  favorable  auspices,  assuming  the  new  name  of  Sulei- 
man, by  which  he  is  generally  known.  The  court  of  Suleiman  was 
famous  throughout  Europe  and  Asia  for  its  magnificence.  Thither 
came  many  travelers  who  have  left  us  curious  pictures  of  the  times 
— our  only  source,  in  fact,  for  Persian  history  of  this  period. 

On  his  deathbed  the  shah  said  to  his  ministers,  "  If  you  desire 
ease  elevate  Husein  Mirza  to  the  throne ;  but  if  you  desire  the  glory 
of  your  country  elevate  Abbas  Mirza."  Evidently  the  ministers 
preferred  their  own  interests  to  those  of  the  country,  for  Husein 
was  chosen,  and  did  more  by  his  bigotry  and  weakness  to  ruin  the 


348  PERSIA 

1694-1717 

nation  than  his  predecessors  had  by  their  vices.  At  first  Husein, 
under  the  influence  of  the  priests  or  mullas,  persecuted  the  sectaries, 
who,  like  the  Huguenots  in  France,  formed  the  best  blood  of  the 
nation.  The  philosophical  sect  of  the  Sufi,  though  knitted  by  the 
closest  bonds  to  the  very  meaning  of  the  dynasty,  was  driven  into 
exile.  Eunuchs  and  mullas  ruled  the  country  in  place  of  the 
nobles,  and  the  fact  that  Husein  reigned  peacefully  for  twenty 
years  shows  to  what  depths  of  weakness  and  indifference  the  nation 
had  fallen. 

The  blow  which  produced  a  new  revolution  in  Persian  affairs 
came  as  usual  from  the  east,  but  this  time  from  a  new  and  hitherto 
insignificant  race.  The  Afghans,  a  people  of  Aryan  blood,  though 
they  claimed  descent  from  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  had  for  centuries 
maintained  a  semi-independent  position  in  their  mountains,  balanc- 
ing between  Persia  and  Hindustan.  Between  the  two  the  Afghans 
were  perhaps  more  hostile  to  Persia,  for  they  were  Sunnites,  ortho- 
dox Mohammedans,  and  hated  the  Shiahs.  At  this  period  the 
Afghans  were  divided  into  two  main  branches,  the  Ghilzis,  who  held 
Kabul  and  Kandahar  and  could  put  thirty  thousand  men  into  the 
field,  and  the  less  powerful  but  equally  numerous  Sadozais,  who 
dwelt  about  Herat.  Both  these  tribes  had  been  subject  to  Persia 
since  the  days  of  Abbas  the  Great,  but  now,  with  the  decline  of  his 
empire,  their  opportunity  had  come.  Oppressed  by  the  Georgian 
governor  of  Kandahar,  Ghurgin  Khan,  the  Ghilzis  rose  under  Mir 
Wais,  killed  the  governor  by  treachery  and  seized  the  city.  Two 
Persian  armies  sent  against  them  were  defeated  and  by  1709  Mir 
Wais  had  fully  established  the  independent  state.  The  example  of 
the  Ghilzis  was  not  lost  on  the  other  enemies  of  Persia,  which  was 
soon  threatened  on  all  sides.  The  Kurds  were  encouraged  by  Af- 
ghan success  to  take  up  arms,  the  Sadozai  clan  revolted  at  Herat  and 
aided  by  the  Uzbegs  defeated  an  army  of  30,000  Persians,  while  the 
Arabs  of  Maskat  threatened  the  Persian  Gulf  and  defeated  a  com- 
bined attack  of  Persians  and  Portuguese. 

The  new  ruler  of  Kandahar,  Mahmud,  who  succeeded  his 
father,  Mir  Wais,  in  17 17,  seeing  his  opportunity  in  these  dis- 
turbances, invaded  Seistan  and  seized  the  city  of  Kirman.  The  only 
able  Persian  leader,  Sulf  Ali,  fell  through  court  jealousy,  and 
Mahmud  at  the  head  of  25,000  men  advanced  with  surprising  ease 
to  within  nine  miles  of  Ispahan  itself.  The  news  of  the  appearance 
of  the  Afghans  threw  the  capital  into  a  state  of  panic  and  Shah 


THE     NEW     PERSIAN     EMPIRE  349 

1717-1725 

Husein,  beside  himself  with  fear,  tried  in  vain  to  bribe  Mahmud  to 
withdraw.  At  last  a  force  of  troops  was  assembled  and  the  Persian 
army  50,000  strong  marched  out  against  the  enemy.  The  Persians, 
showily  dressed,  finely  mounted  and  equipped,  presented  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  ragged  and  tentless  Afghans,  in  whose  ranks  nothing 
glittered  save  the  sword  blades  and  the  lanceheads.  But  this  tattered 
horde,  aided  it  is  true  by  treachery,  soon  drove  the  Persians  in 
headlong  rout  back  to  Ispahan.  The  terror  in  that  city  rose  to 
the  highest  pitch.  At  first  Shah  Husein  thought  of  flight,  but  was 
finally  persuaded  to  remain  and  stand  a  siege.  We  have  seen  that 
Ispahan  had  under  Shah  Abbas  become  one  of  the  most  splendid 
cities  of  the  East.  The  River  Zanderud,  spanned  by  noble  bridges, 
divided  the  city  into  two  parts,  the  main  section  on  the  northern 
bank,  the  Armenian  settlement  of  Julfa  and  the  royal  palaces  on  the 
southern.  It  was  against  these  southern  suburbs  that  the  Afghans 
began  their  attack.  The  Armenian  suburb  had  been  founded  by 
Abbas  the  Great  and  had  prospered  greatly  during  his  reign.  Now 
the  misgovernment  and  fanaticism  of  Husein  had  done  much  toward 
ruining  the  settlement.  Nevertheless,  the  Christians  showed  them- 
selves faithful  to  the  shah  and  only  when  the  imbecile  court  refused 
to  aid  them  did  they  consent  to  surrender,  paying  a  great  ransom  to 
escape  pillage.  Mahmud,  once  secure  of  the  southern  suburb,  now 
proceeded  to  blockade  the  city,  ravaging  the  country  round  and 
cutting  off  all  supplies.  Ispahan  was  soon  reduced  to  starvation, 
while  the  utter  weakness  of  the  shah  and  the  treachery  of  his  ad- 
visors aided  to  make  the  situation  desperate.  The  city  surrendered 
without  a  blow  being  struck,  Husein  abdicated  his  throne  and 
saluted  Mahmud  as  shah.  Such  was  the  miserable  end  of  the 
Safawi  dynasty,  which  had  begun  so  brilliantly  two  hundred  years 
before. 

The  distracted  state  of  Persia  was  immediately  taken  advantage 
of  by  her  external  foes.  While  an  internal  war  was  ravaging  the 
provinces,  for  the  Afghans  held  scarcely  more  than  the  city  of 
Ispahan,  the  Turks  seized  Tabriz  and  Hamadan,  while  a  new  and 
formidable  enemy  appeared  in  the  Caspian.  The  northern  shores 
of  this  inland  sea  had  been  held  by  the  Russians  since  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Golden  Horde  by  Ivan  the  Terrible.  Now  under  Tsar 
Peter  the  Great  a  Russian  fleet  appeared  on  the  sea  and  a  Russian 
army  of  30,000  men  devastated  the  coast  provinces  of  Derbent  and 
Ghilan.     Meantime,  a  son  of  Husein  named  Tamasp  had  taken 


350  PERSIA 

1725-1733 

refuge  in  Astrabad,  where  many  flocked  to  his  support  and  the  situa- 
tion of  Mahmud  and  his  handful  of  followers  grew  more  and  more 
difficult.  In  order  to  strike  terror  and  so  paralyze  all  resistance,  the 
Afghan  plunged  into  the  most  fearful  atrocities.  The  whole  family 
of  Husein  was  butchered  before  the  eyes  of  the  captive  monarch; 
three  hundred  Persian  nobles  with  their  families  were  treacherously 
massacred  at  a  banquet  and  thousands  of  citizens  of  Ispahan  shared 
a  similar  fate.  Mahmud  died  in  the  midst  of  these  cruelties  at  the 
early  age  of  twenty-seven  years  (1725).  The  Afghan  leader  was 
not  a  great  man,  though  he  overthrew  a  great  empire.  He  pos- 
sessed courage  and  activity,  but  his  marvelous  success  was  due 
rather  to  the  rottenness  of  the  Persian  empire  and  the  unwarlike 
character  of  the  people,  than  to  his  own  talents.  The  task  of  govern- 
ing his  conquests  was  altogether  beyond  him  and  he  could  think  of 
no  better  method  of  securing  his  authority  than  by  startling  acts 
of  barbarity. 

The  first  care  of  Mahmud's  successor,  Ashraf,  was  to  make 
peace  with  the  Turks,  whose  aid  he  hoped  to  gain  by  acknowledging 
the  Ottoman  sultan  to  be  kalif  of  all  Islam.  By  this  time  Tamasp, 
aided  first  by  Ali  Khan  and  then  by  a  robber  chieftain,  Nadir  Kuli, 
had  become  a  most  dangerous  opponent.  In  a  short  space  of  time 
Nadir,  as  general  of  the  royal  forces,  captured  Mashad,  Nishapur, 
and  Herat  from  the  Afghans,  and  forced  all  Khurasan  to  submit  to 
the  authority  of  Tamasp.  Ashraf  marched  against  him,  but  was  so 
thoroughly  beaten  at  Damghan  that  the  Afghans  only  rallied  at 
Teheran,  two  hundred  miles  from  the  field.  This  defeat  broke  the 
charm  of  Afghan  invincibility  which  had  held  the  country  in  terrified 
subjection.  Everywhere  the  Persians  rose  against  their  masters 
and  Ashraf  was  forced  to  abandon  Ispahan  after  putting  to  death 
Shah  Husein,  and  to  fall  back  on  Shiraz  closely  pursued  by  Nadir 
Kuli.  The  retreat  of  the  Afghans  soon  became  a  wild  flight  for 
safety.  Ashraf  managed  to  reach  Baluchistan,  only  to  fall  at  the 
hands  of  the  tribesmen,  and  very  few  of  his  followers  ever  reached 
their  native  land.  But  their  destruction  was  but  little  consolation  to 
Persia.  During  seven  years  her  greatest  cities  had  been  ruined 
and  her  best  provinces  reduced  to  deserts  by  a  small  band  of  for- 
eigners who  could  maintain  themselves  in  the  midst  of  a  great 
nation  only  by  means  of  the  fear  they  inspired. 


Chapter    IV 

MODERN    PERSIA.    1733-1910 

A  LL  eyes  in  Persia  were  now  turned  on  Nadir  Kuli,  who,  acting 
Z-m  nominally  for  Shah  Tamasp,  had  delivered  the  country 
X  JL  from  the  Afghan  scourge.  Nadir  Kuli  belonged  to  the 
tribe  of  Afshar,  one  of  the  seven  Kuzul  Bash  tribes.  In  early  life 
he  had  led  a  most  precarious  existence  and  was  chief  of  a  band  of 
robbers  when  he  offered  his  services  to  Prince  Tamasp.  Rivalry 
between  Nadir  and  Fath  AH,  the  other  chief  supporter  of  Tamasp, 
led  to  the  assassination  of  the  latter  and  Nadir  became  chief  general 
of  the  shah,  who  was  a  mere  puppet  in  his  hands.  As  a  reward 
for  his  great  services  Nadir  was  granted  the  provinces  of  Khurasan, 
Mazanderan,  Seistan,  and  Kirman,  so  that  almost  half  of  Persia  was 
under  his  control. 

Nadir  did  not  rest  long  on  the  laurels  of  the  Afghan  campaign. 
The  Turks  were  driven  from  Azerbaijan  in  short  order  and  a  cam- 
paign in  Armenia  was  in  preparation  when  a  revolt  of  Herat  called 
him  to  the  east.  During  his  absence  Shah  Tamasp  renewed  the 
Turkish  war,  was  soundly  beaten,  and  made  peace,  giving  back  the 
provinces  which  his  great  general  had  just  won.  This  fiasco  cost 
him  the  throne.  For  Nadir  declaring  the  treaty  to  be  contrary  to 
the  will  of  heaven,  called  on  all  faithful  Shiahs  to  take  up  arms,  and 
marching  on  Ispahan  dethroned  the  unlucky  shah  and  set  up  his 
son  Abbas  as  titular  ruler.  This  accomplished,  Nadir  renewed  the 
war  with  Turkey  and  marched  on  Bagdad,  the  center  of  Otto- 
man power  in  those  regions.  The  city  would  surely  have  fallen, 
despite  the  brave  defense  of  its  governor,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
arrival  of  100,000  Turks  under  the  noted  vizir,  Topal  Osman. 
Nadir  turned  to  meet  this  new  adversary  with  70,000  men,  and  the 
two  hosts  met,  1733,  on  that  same  field  of  Samrah,  where  the 
Emperor  Julian  had  fallen  in  battle  with  the  Persians,  fourteen 
centuries  before.  After  a  long  and  bloody  battle  the  Persians  fled, 
leaving  20,000  dead  on  the  field,  and  never  rallied  till  they  reached 
the  distant  city  of  Hamadan.     It  was  under  these  critical  circum- 

351 


352  PERSIA 

1733-1737 

stances  that  the  genius  of  Nadir  showed  at  its  best.  He  praised 
and  rewarded  his  beaten  troops,  raised  their  spirits  anew,  rees- 
tablished discipline,  and  was  soon  able  to  take  the  field  with  another 
great  host.  This  time  fortune  favored  the  Persians.  The  Turks, 
seized  with  panic,  fled  before  them  and  Topal  Osman  was  slain. 
Armenia  and  Georgia  soon  fell  into  Persian  hands  and  though  Bag- 
dad remained  Turkish,  Nadir  was  able  by  a  final  treaty  in  1735  to 
recover  all  the  provinces  lost  during  the  Afghan  wars. 

The  time  had  now  come  when  Nadir  could  throw  aside  all 
pretense  and  assume  the  titles  as  well  as  the  powers  of  a  king. 
The  timely  demise  of  the  child-shah,  Abbas  III.,  smoothed  the  way, 
and  Nadir,  with  feigned  reluctance,  accepted  the  crown  offered  by 
the  generals  of  his  army.  But  he  made  it  a  condition  on  ascending 
the  throne  that  the  Shiah  faith  should  be  abolished  as  the  state 
religion,  and  that  Persia  should  reenter  the  orthodox  fold.  Nadir 
had  hitherto  been  a  zealous  Shiah  and  had  not  hesitated  to  enlist 
religious  differences  in  his  struggle  with  the  Ottoman  power.  But 
the  Shiah  sect  was  too  closely  allied  with  memories  of  the  dynasty 
he  had  dethroned  for  him  to  found  his  empire  on  its  support. 
Moreover,  the  ambition  of  the  new  shah  already  looked  forward  to 
the  conquest  of  other  nations  and  in  abolishing  the  Shiah  faith  he 
saw  removed  the  religious  barrier  which  separated  Persia  from  her 
neighbors,  and  the  path  smoothed  for  external  conquests.  On 
February  26,  1736,  at  twenty-six  minutes  after  eight  in  the  morn- 
ing, as  we  are  assured  by  an  accurate  historian,  Nadir  Shah  placed 
the  crown,  or  rather  the  cap  of  royalty,  on  his  head. 

Once  the  internal  tranquillity  of  the  country  was  restored, 
Nadir's  first  object  was  the  reconquest  of  Afghanistan.  With  80,000 
men  he  invaded  the  country  and  laid  siege  to  Kandahar,  where 
Husein  Khan,  brother  of  Mahmud,  still  held  sway.  After  a  year's 
ineffectual  blockade,  regular  siege  operations  were  commenced  and 
the  town  was  finally  taken  by  storm.  The  Afghans  were  kindly 
treated  and,  religious  differences  being  now  removed,  were  soon 
enlisted  in  support  of  Nadir.  Meantime  the  shah's  son,  Riza  Kuli, 
had  invaded  Balkh,  the  ancient  Bactria,  crossed  the  Oxus,  after 
defeating  the  Uzbeg  khans,  and  was  pressing  on  to  Samarkand 
when  he  was  called  by  his  father  to  a  new  field  of  conquest. 

No  sooner  was  Kandahar  taken  than  Nadir  Shah  turned  his 
energies  to  a  far  greater  design — the  invasion  of  Hindustan.  North- 
ern India  or  Hindustan  had  since  the  days  of  Mahmud  of  Ghazni 


MODERN     PERSIA  353 

1737-1738 

been  ruled  by  a  succession  of  Mohammedan  dynasties.  About 
the  year  1526  Babar,  a  descendant  of  Timur  Leng  and  ruler  of 
Kabul,  driven  from  Turkestan  by  the  Uzbegs,  succeeded  in  found- . 
ing  a  great  Indian  empire  with  its  capital  at  Delhi.  This  so-called 
Mogul  empire  reached  its  height  in  the  reigns  of  Akbar,  the  wisest 
of  Mohammedan  rulers,  and  his  descendants,  Shah  Jahan  and 
Aurangzeb.  Since  the  death  of  Aurangzeb  in  1707,  the  empire 
had  rapidly  declined  and  even  became  tributary  to  the  marauding 
tribes  of  the  Maratha  confederacy.  The  ruling  emperor  at  this 
time  was  Mohammed  Shah,  a  jovial  incompetent  person  who,  we  are 
told,  was  never  without  a  mistress  in  his  arms  or  a  glass  in  his 
hand. 

Nadir  easily  found  a  pretext  for  war  in  the  Indian  intrigues 
among  the  Afghans,  and  the  Persian  host  had  poured  through  that 
gateway  of  conquerors,  the  Khaibar  Pass,  and  on  to  the  plains  of 
Punjab  before  Mohammed  awoke  to  a  sense  of  the  danger.  In 
1738  Lahore  fell  without  resistance  and  Nadir  advanced  rapidly 
to  Kamal,  within  sixty  miles  of  Delhi,  where  a  vast  Indian  army  was 
drawn  up.  The  battle  was  of  short  duration.  In  four  hours  the 
Indian  host  was  completely  routed,  twenty  thousand  slain,  and 
Mohammed  Shah,  finding  himself  surrounded,  was  forced  to  sur- 
render. But  the  object  of  Nadir  was  not  conquest,  but  booty. 
Mohammed  was  treated  with  the  utmost  respect  and  reseated  on  his 
throne  after  agreeing  to  the  surrender  of  his  treasure  and  the 
cession  of  the  lands  west  of  the  Indus.  Nadir  entered  Delhi  in 
triumph,  where,  besides  seizing  the  enormous  imperial  treasure,  he 
laid  a  heavy  ransom  on  the  people.  An  insane  rising  among  the 
citizens  was  followed  by  a  general  massacre,  which  ceased  only  when 
Mohammed  Shah  appealed  in  person  for  the  lives  of  his  subjects. 
According  to  an  English  eyewitness,  150,000  persons  perished, 
though  a  more  likely  estimate  reduces  the  total  to  less  than  one- 
tenth  of  that  number.  Nadir  remained  in  Delhi  fifty-eight  days 
to  celebrate  the  marriage  of  his  son,  Nasr-Ullah,  with  a  princess 
of  the  house  of  Timur.  When  the  court  officials  demanded  as  was 
customary  the  genealogy  of  the  bridegroom  for  seven  generations, 
Nadir,  who  was  proud  of  his  own  lowly  origin,  replied,  "  Tell  them 
that  he  is  the  son  of  Nadir  Shah,  the  son  of  the  sword,  the  grand- 
son of  the  sword ;  and  so  on  not  for  seven  but  for  seventy  genera- 
tions." The  marriage  ceremonies  completed,  Nadir  returned  to 
Herat  bearing  with  him  an  enormous  booty  worth  thirty  crores  of 


354  .  PERSIA 

1738-1747 

rupees  ($100,000,000).  Among  the  spoils  were  the  jewel-studded 
peacock  throne  of  Delhi  and  a  famous  diamond,  the  Koh-i-Nur. 
In  honor  of  his  victory  Nadir  ordered  a  general  remission  of  taxes 
and  displayed  his  treasures  in  public  at  Herat. 

The  next  exploit  of  the  conqueror  was  the  invasion  of  Tur- 
kestan and  the  subjugation  of  the  Uzbeg  and  Khuarezm  khans. 
Samarkand  and  Bokhara  became  tributary  to  Nadir  and  bear  to 
this  day  evidences  of  his  triumph.  The  conquest  of  Turkestan  was 
the  last  of  the  exploits  of  the  shah  who  had  in  five  years  freed  Persia 
from  foreign  invaders  and  conquered  five  powerful  rulers.  The 
character  of  the  Persian  monarch  changed  for  the  worse  after  the 
conquest  of  India  and  his  vast  treasures  seemed  to  bring  a  curse 
with  them.  He  became  avaricious,  jealous,  and  suspicious  even  of 
his  own  sons.  Riza  Kuli,  who  promised  to  be  a  worthy  successor  of 
his  father,  was  suspected  of  high  treason  and  his  eyes  were  put  out. 
the  people  were  ground  down  with  taxes  and  the  Shiahs,  who  still 
formed  the  bulk  of  the  population,  were  bitterly  persecuted.  At  last 
after  six  years  of  tyranny  Nadir  became  unbearable  and  perished  at 
Mashad  through  a  conspiracy  of  his  own  officers,  1747. 

Nadir  Shah  was  the  last  and  not  the  least  in  the  great  line  of 
Mohammedan  conquerors.  He  is  described  as  a  handsome,  robust 
person  of  great  size  and  strength,  with  fine  eyes  and  a  ruddy  com- 
plexion. The  tyranny  of  his  later  years  and  his  apostasy  from  the 
national  faith  have  not  obscured  the  glory  of  his  earlier  achieve- 
ments, and  the  Persians  reverence  him  to  this  day  as  a  hero  and 
the  deliverer  of  his  country.  In  Nadir's  reign  occurred  the  re- 
markable attempt  of  two  Englishmen,  Elton  and  Hanway,  to 
establish  trade  between  England  and  Persia  by  way  of  the  Black 
Sea  and  the  Caspian.  They  succeeded  in  building  up  a  large  trade, 
but  the  enterprise  was  finally  ruined  by  Russian  prohibition.  Elton 
built  for  Persia  a  small  fleet  on  the  Caspian  while  Hanway  has  left 
us  a  most  valuable  life  of  Nadir  Shah. 

Nadir  as  a  result  of  his  own  cruelty  left  no  worthy  successor 
and  a  period  of  anarchy  followed  his  death.  As  soon  as  the  murder 
was  known,  Ahmad  Khan,  chief  of  the  Abdali  Afghans,  seized 
Kandahar  and  set  up  an  independent  state,  which  marks  the  final 
separation  of  Persia  and  Afghanistan.  Through  the  support  of 
Ahmad,  the  son  of  Riza  Kuli,  Shah  Rokh,  who  had  been  blinded 
during  the  civil  wars,  was  raised  to  the  throne.  Shah  Rokh  had 
even  a  better  title  to  reign  than  his  relationship  with  Nadir  Shah, 


MODERN     PERSIA  355 

1747-1789 

for  his  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Husein,  the  last  real  ruler  of  the 
Safawi  dynasty.  Amiable  and  generous,  Shah  Rokh  proved  a 
popular  ruler,  but  his  blindness  and  lack  of  real  ability  prevented 
him  from  keeping  control  of  the  turbulent  tribal  chiefs.  His  author- 
ity was  soon  limited  to  the  province  of  Khurasan,  which  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Afghans  helped  him  to  retain.  The  rest  of  Persia, 
after  several  years  of  utter  confusion  and  intertribal  war,  was 
finally  divided  between  three  powerful  chieftains.  In  the  north,  Mo- 
hammed Hasan  Khan,  chief  of  the  Khajars  and  son  of  that  Fath 
Ali  Khan  who  had  protected  Tamasp  II.,  ruled  over  Astrabad  and 
Mazanderan;  in  Azerbaijan,  Azad  Khan,  one  of  the  generals  of 
Nadir  Shah,  was  supreme;  while  Ispahan  and  the  south  were  held 
by  Kerim  Khan,  a  Kurdish  chieftain.  A  three-cornered  contest  be- 
tween these  powerful  lords,  in  which  first  one  and  then  another 
gained  the  upper  hand,  resulted  in  the  final  victory  of  Kerim  in  1760. 
Azad  was  overthrown  by  Mohammed  Hasan  who,  beaten  in  his 
turn,  perished  in  a  local  vendetta. 

Kerim  Khan  ruled  for  nineteen  years,  1760 1779,  over  all 
Persia  save  Khurasan,  though  he  never  ventured  to  assume  the 
royal  title  of  shah  in  shah,  contenting  himself  with  that  of  wali  or 
regent.  His  rule  was  eminently  just  and  he  did  much  to  restore 
prosperity  to  the  sorely  distracted  land.  His  favorite  residence  was 
at  Shiraz,  where  he  built  the  great  bazaar,  repaired  the  tomb  of 
Sheikh  Sa'di,  and  erected  a  splendid  shrine  over  the  grave  of  Hafiz. 
Here  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty,  leaving  the  reputation  of  a  wise 
and  peaceful  ruler.  The  short-lived  dynasty  which  he  founded  is 
known  in  history  as  the  Zend,  from  the  name  of  an  ancient  Kurdish 
tribe  which  claimed  to  have  been  entrusted  with  the  sacred  Zend- 
Avesta  by  the  prophet  Zoroaster. 

The  death  of  Kerim  Khan  was  the  signal  for  new  disorders. 
Zaku  Sadik,  Ali  Murad,  and  Juafir,  all  of  the  Zend  dynasty,  fol- 
lowed in  quick  succession.  Their  reigns  are  distinguished  only  by 
a  series  of  horrible  dynastic  quarrels,  in  which  brother  murdered 
brother  and  uncle  blinded  nephew,  and  by  a  revival  of  the  Khajar 
faction  in  the  north.  Agha  Mohammed,  son  of  Mohammed  Hasan, 
had  in  the  days  of  anarchy  been  taken  by  his  enemies  and  cruelly 
mutilated.  He  had  submitted  to  Kerim  Khan  after  the  murder  of 
his  father,  but  at  once  revolted  on  hearing  of  Kerim's  death  and 
soon  united  the  Caspian  provinces  under  his  rule,  with  a  capital  at 
Teheran. 


356  PERSIA 

1789-1795 

In  1789  Lutf  Ali  Khan  with  the  aid  of  the  vizir  Hajji  Ibra- 
him succeeded  to  the  throne  of  the  Zends.  Lutf  Ali  was  only 
twenty  years  of  age,  brave,  handsome,  and  magnanimous, — in  fact 
a  perfect  knight-errant,  but  wholly  lacking  in  the  qualities  of  a 
ruler.  His  brief  reign  was  filled  by  a  constant  struggle  with  Agha 
Mohammed,  who  was  in  every  way  his  antithesis — a  cold,  remorse- 
less, but  very  able  tyrant.  In  1790,  while  on  his  way  to  attack 
Teheran,  Lutf  Ali  was  suddenly  deserted  by  Hajji  Ibrahim,  who 
went  over  to  Agha  Mohammed  with  most  of  the  army.  This  act 
of  treachery  forced  Lutf  Ali  to  abandon  Ispahan  and  Shiraz,  where 
the  gates  were  closed  against  him  by  the  intrigues  of  Ibrahim.  De- 
serted by  all  but  a  few  friends  Lutf  Ali  did  not  lose  courage  but, 
rallying  a  small  force,  laid  siege  to  Shiraz  and  routed  an  army 
sent  against  him.  Agha  Mohammed  now  advanced  in  person  with 
30,000  men  to  raise  the  siege,  but  Lutf  Ali  with  a  handful  of  fol- 
lowers made  a  night  attack  on  his  camp  and  threw  the  whole  army 
into  confusion.  Only  the  wonderful  coolness  of  Agha  Mohammed 
saved  his  army  from  utter  rout.  He  remained  in  his  tent  through- 
out the  night  and  in  the  morning  ordered  the  muezzin  to  call  the 
Faithful  to  prayer  as  usual.  The  troops  of  Lutf  Ali  were  filled 
with  astonishment,  and  thinking  the  whole  Khajar  host  had  re- 
turned took  to  flight.  Agha  Mohammed  entered  Shiraz  in  tri- 
umph, appointing  the  traitor  Ibrahim  as  his  vizier,  while  Lutf  Ali 
fled  to  Khurasan  and  thence  to  Kandahar.  But  even  then  the 
undaunted  chief  did  not  abandon  the  contest.  Gathering  a  few 
men  he  crossed  the  frontier  in  1794  and  seized  the  important  city 
of  Kirman  in  eastern  Persia.  Here  he  was  besieged  by  Agha  Mo- 
hammed, who  finally  took  the  town  by  treachery.  Lutf  Ali,  after 
fighting  in  the  streets  till  all  hope  was  gone,  cut  his  way  through 
the  Khajar  forces  with  three  companions  and  escaped  into  Seistan. 
Enraged  at  the  escape  of  his  rival,  Agha  Mohammed  gave  up  the 
city  to  plunder  and  massacre.  The  eyes  of  7000  of  the  inhabitants 
were  brought  to  him  on  a  platter,  20,000  women  and  children  were 
carried  away  into  slavery  and  the  city  was  reduced  to  ruins.  Lutf 
Ali  did  not  long  survive  this  disaster.  He  was  soon  after  be- 
trayed into  the  hands  of  his  enemy  and  put  to  death  just  six  years 
after  his  accession  to  the  throne.  His  fall  left  Agha  Mohammed 
master  of  all  Persia,  save  Khurasan,  where  the  blind  Shah  Rokh 
still  maintained  a  shadowy  overlordship.  Urged  on  by  greed  for 
the  jewels  of  Nadir  Shah,  the  Khajar  prince  found  no  difficulty  in 


MODERN     PERSIA  357 

1795 

overrunning  the  province  and  seizing  Shah  Rokh,  who  was  tor- 
tured tiP  he  revealed  the  whereabouts  of  his  treasure.  The  fate 
of  this  unhappy  monarch,  grandson  of  a  mighty  conqueror,  who 
died  soon  after  from  the  effects  of  his  sufferings,  forms  one  of  the 
darkest  pages  in  Persian  history. 

Agha  Mohammed  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  inhuman 
beings  that  ever  sat  upon  a  Persian  throne.  But  the  great  eunuch 
king,  as  he  was  called,  possessed  some  redeeming  qualities,  and 
chief  among  them  a  strong  sense  of  patriotism,  a  rare  trait  in 
oriental  monarchs.  The  last  and  best  years  of  his  reign  were  spent 
in  a  constant  struggle  to  save  his  country  from  Russia,  which  had 
succeeded  the  Ottoman  empire  as  Persia's  most  formidable  enemy. 
The  relations  between  Russia  and  Persia  began  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  when  Ivan  the  Terrible  overthrew  the  Tatar  khan  and 
established  the  Muscovite  power  at  Astrakhan.  We  have  seen  how 
Peter  the  Great  took  advantage  of  the  Afghan  invasion  to  seize  the 
Persian  provinces  west  of  the  Caspian.  But  these  successes  were 
only  temporary  and  Peter's  successors  abandoned  his  conquests 
before  the  might  of  Nadir  Shah. 

A  new  opportunity  for  Russian  aggression  presented  itself 
in  the  situation  of  the  Christian  principality  of  Georgia  in  the 
Caucasus,  which  had  generally  been  under  Persian  suzerainty. 
The  Georgians,  like  the  Circassians,  were  esteemed  as  slaves  for 
their  beauty  both  in  Turkey  and  in  Persia,  and  under  Persian  rule 
slave  raids  were  of  common  occurrence.  The  country  was  besides 
torn  by  constant  dissensions  between  the  ruling  princes  and  the 
nobles  who  cared  for  nothing  save  their  own  private  interests. 
It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  Prince  Heraclius,  despairing 
for  the  future  of  his  people  under  the  Persian  yoke,  placed  himself 
under  the  protection  which  Catherine  II.  of  Russia  gladly  ex- 
tended. Agha  Mohammed  had,  while  still  merely  governor  of 
Astrabad,  ample  opportunity  to  watch  with  jealousy  and  to  check 
as  he  was  able  the  growing  encroachments  of  the  Russians  in  the 
Caspian.  Once  firmly  seated  on  the  throne,  he  hastened  to  take 
up  the  Georgian  question,  demanding  the  return  of  Heraclius  to 
his  allegiance.  The  Georgian  prince  refused,  and  in  1795  the  shah 
burst  into  Georgia  with  60,000  men,  defeated  Heraclius  in  battle 
and  took  his  capital  of  Tiflis,  slaying  or  carrying  off  the  inhabitants 
into  slavery.  So  sudden  had  been  the  invasion  that  the  Russians 
could  not  arrive  in  time  to  aid  the  Georgians.    So  great  was  Cath- 


358  PERSIA 

1795-1801 

erine's  mortification  at  the  news  of  the  sack  of  Tiflis  that  she 
mediated  not  only  the  recovery  of  Georgia,  but  even  the  conquest 
of  all  Persia,  The  Russian  general,  Plato  Zubov,  advanced  in 
1796  from  Derbent  into  Georgia  with  40,000  men,  received  the 
submission  of  the  country,  and  was  preparing  to  march  on  Teheran 
itself  when  he  was  recalled  by  the  death  of  the  empress.  The 
Russians  had,  however,  gained  great  prestige  and  the  good  will  of 
the  Georgians  by  their  strict  discipline  and  total  abstinence  from 
plundering.  The  next  year  Agha  Mohammed  was  preparing  a 
new  attack  when  he  was  assassinated  by  one  of  his  own  body  serv- 
ants whom  he  had  sentenced  to  death. 

Although  Agha  Mohammed,  embittered  as  he  was  by  the  mis- 
fortunes of  his  youth,  will  rank  among  the  most  inhuman  of  rulers, 
he  did  much  to  restore  the  Persian  monarchy  by  putting  an  end  to 
the  state  of  anarchy  which  had  convulsed  the  empire  since  the 
days  of  Nadir  Shah.  He  suppressed  the  intertribal  wars  which 
sapped  the  strength  of  the  country,  and  made  praiseworthy  efforts 
to  encourage  commerce  and  so  enrich  his  people.  But  he  came 
too  late  to  effect  any  lasting  improvement,  for  the  character  of  the 
people  was  thoroughly  weakened  since  the  time  of  the  great 
Abbas. 

One  important  change  which  he  did  make,  however,  was 
the  restoration  of  the  Shiah  faith,  proscribed  by  Nadir  Shah  but 
still  the  religion  of  the  great  majority  of  the  population.  The 
Khajar  dynasty,  which  he  founded  and  which  is  still  the  ruling 
house,  was  traditionally  devoted  to  the  national  faith  for  its  an- 
cestors had  been  among  the  seven  Turkish  tribes  which  had  fol- 
lowed the  fortunes  of  Shah  Ismail.  In  personal  appearance  Agha 
Mohammed  was  beardless  and  shriveled,  so  ugly  that  he  could  not 
bear  to  have  anyone  look  upon  him. 

The  eunuch  king  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  Fath  Ali 
Khan,  who  reigned  for  thirty-six  years,  1 797-1 833,  during  a  most 
eventful  period  in  European  history.  The  first  object  of  the  new 
shah  was  the  reconquest  of  Georgia,  the  task  bequeathed  him  by  his 
uncle.  In  1800  the  Georgian  prince,  George,  son  of  Heraclius, 
resigned  his  crown  to  Russia;  but  his  brother  Alexander  refused 
to  accept  Russian  rule  and  broke  into  revolt.  Taking  advantage 
of  this  disturbance,  Fath  Ali  sent  his  son  Abbas  Mirza  to  invade 
Georgia.  Abbas  fought  a  three  days'  battle  with  the  Russians  near 
Erivan,  but  the  issue  was  indecisive.    The  next  year  the  shah  took 


MODERNPERSIA  359 

1801-1829 

the  field  in  person,  but  again  little  was  accomplished  and  the  con- 
flict degenerated  into  a  sort  of  armed  truce,  the  Russians  holding 
Derbent,  Tiflis,  and  Shirwan,  the  Persians  Erivan. 

The  widespread  influence  of  the  great  revolutionary  wars 
in  Europe  now  found  their  echoes  in  the  active  intrigues  of  the 
European  powers  at  the  Persian  court.  At  first  the  French  emis- 
saries sent  by  Napoleon  when  he  was  contemplating  an  invasion 
of  India  gained  some  influence.  But  after  the  Peace  of  Tilsit, 
1807,  when  the  French  became  allies  of  Persia's  arch  enemy,  the 
shah  turned  toward  the  English.  Relations  between  Persia  and 
the  British  empire  had  been  opened  in  the  year  1800  by  Captain 
John  Malcolm,  sent  by  the  governor-general  of  India  to  conclude 
a  commercial  treaty.  Now  Malcolm  returned  to  the  Persian  court 
and  British  officers  were  detached  to  drill  the  Persian  army.  In 
1 8 10  hostilities  recommenced  between  Persia  and  Russia  and  soon 
after  the  English  officers  were  withdrawn.  But  two  remained  to 
lead  the  Persians  in  the  battle  of  Aslanduz,  where  the  Russians 
were  completely  victorious.  This  battle  decided  the  war  and 
through  English  mediation  the  Treaty  of  Gulistan  was  signed 
October  13,  18 13,  by  which  Persia  acknowledged  the  Russian  an- 
nexation of  Georgia  and  ceded  to  that  power  the  Caspian  districts 
of  Daghestan,  Baku,  and  Shirwan.  A  new  war  in  1827  ended 
still  more  disastrously  for  Persia.  After  some  preliminary  suc- 
cesses, Mohammed  Mirza  was  beaten  by  the  Russians  at  the  Zizan, 
and  his  father,  Abbas,  suffered  a  like  fate  at  Ganjeh.  The  Rus- 
sians crossed  the  Araxes,  took  Erivan  and  Tabriz,  and  forced  the 
shah  to  make  the  humiliating  Treaty  of  Turkmanchai,  1829.  By 
this  treaty  Persia  surrendered  Erivan  and  Nakhitcheran,  paid  an 
indemnity  equivalent  to  fifteen  million  dollars,  and  agreed  to  main- 
tain no  warships  in  the  Caspian.  The  Treaty  of  Turkmanchai 
marks  the  beginning  of  Russian  predominance  in  Persia.  By  the 
acquisition  of  the  fortress  of  Erivan,  Russia  gained  the  key  to 
the  heart  of  Persia,  while  the  exclusion  of  Persian  warships  from  the 
Caspian  practically  converted  that  sea  into  a  Russian  lake,  and 
laid  the  northern  provinces  of  Persia  at  the  mercy  of  the  great 
northern  power.  The  murder  at  Teheran  of  the  Russian  envoy, 
who  had  enraged  the  people  by  his  overbearing  conduct,  brought 
the  two  nations  again  to  the  verge  of  war.  Persia  escaped  a  new 
disaster  only  by  prompt  punishment  of  the  guilty  and  by  sending 
an  expiatory  mission  to  St.  Petersburg. 


360  PERSIA 

1809-1832 

While  Persia  was  continually  involved  in  disastrous  con- 
flicts with  her  northern  neighbor  during  Fath  Ali's  reign,  her 
relations  with  England  were  cordial  and  English  influence  con- 
tinued to  grow.  In  1809  a  commercial  treaty  was  made  with  India, 
while  in  1814  the  English  envoys,  Ellis  and  Morier,  negotiated  the 
still  more  important  political  Treaty  of  Teheran.  By  the  terms  of 
this  treaty  it  was  provided  that  England  should  aid  Persia  by 
money  or  troops  in  case  of  an  unprovoked  invasion,  while  Persia 
should  attack  the  Afghans  if  they  tried  to  invade  India. 

With  Turkey  Fath  AH  was  on  continual  bad  terms,  and  in 
1 82 1  war  broke  out  between  the  two  countries.  The  Persians,  led 
by  the  veteran  Abbas  Mirza,  gained  some  successes  and  invaded 
Armenia,  but  were  stopped  by  a  terrible  outbreak  of  the  cholera. 
After  the  lapse  of  four  months  Abbas  again  advanced  into  Ar- 
menia with  30,000  men,  beat  a  Turkish  force  of  50,000,  and  was 
closing  in  on  Erzerum,  when  operations  were  again  stopped  by  the 
plague.  Peace  was  made  in  1823  and  all  the  injuries  complained 
of  by  Persia  were  promised  redress.  On  the  eastern  frontier  Abbas 
Mirza  was  still  more  successful.  Khurasan,  semi-independent  since 
the  death  of  Nadir  Shah,  was  now  reduced  to  submission,  and 
Yezd,  the  seat  of  the  remaining  fire-worshipers,  and  Kirman  were 
brought  to  recognize  the  royal  authority.  While  Abbas  rested  at 
Mashad,  his  son  Mohammed  pressed  on  to  Herat  and  laid  siege 
to  that  bone  of  contention  between  Persians  and  Afghans.  But 
the  siege  proved  a  failure  and  the  news  of  his  father's  death,  1832, 
forced  Mohammed  to  hasten  back  to  Teheran  to  secure  his  own 
rights  of  succession. 

Russian  influence  induced  Fath  Ali,  after  the  death  of  Abbas, 
to  pass  over  his  seventy-five  sons  and  name  Mohammed,  his  grand- 
son, as  his  successor.  Thus  when  Fath  Ali  was  dead,  Mohammed 
found  himself  confronted  by  the  revolt  of  several  of  his  disap- 
pointed uncles.  Supported  by  his  father's  army  and  backed  by 
English  influence  and  money,  he  soon  restored  order  and  sup- 
pressed a  new  revolt  in  Khurasan.  The  prestige  thus  gained  by 
England  through  her  military  representative,  Sir  Henry  Bethune, 
was,  however,  of  short  duration.  The  vizir,  Hajji  Mirza  Aghasi, 
was  completely  under  Russian  influence  and  the  Russian  envoy, 
Count  Simovich,  was  the  actual  ruler  of  Persia.  To  create  a 
breach  between  England  and  Persia,  Count  Simovich  urged  the 
shah  to  renew  his  attack  on  Herat,  which  the  Indian  government, 


MODERN     PERSIA  361 

1832-1843 

right  or  wrong,  had  begun  to  view  as  of  vital  importance  in  the 
system  of  Indian  defense. 

In  Afghanistan  the  line  of  the  Abdali  khans  had  been  driven 
from  Kabul  by  Dost  Mohammed,  one  of  the  Kuzul  Bash  tribesmen, 
and  had  sought  refuge  in  Herat,  whence  they  made  continual  in- 
roads into  Khurasan  and  Seistan.  Herat  had  always  been  regarded 
by  the  Persians  as  an  integral  part  of  their  country  and  it  took 
little  urging  to  persuade  Mohammed  Shah  to  attempt  its  capture. 
In  November,  1837,  a  Persian  army  led  by  the  shah  in  person  and 
accompanied  by  the  Russian  ambassador,  appeared  before  Herat. 
The  Afghans  showed  little  competence  and  the  city  would  soon 
have  fallen  had  it  not  been  for  the  presence  of  a  young  English 
officeV,  Eldred  Pottinger,  among  the  defenders,  and  the  incapacity 
of  the  Persians  themselves.  Indeed  but  one  vigorous  assault  was 
made,  planned,  it  is  said,  by  Count  Simovich  himself,  and  the 
siege  of  ten  months  is  more  conspicuous  for  its  diplomatic  in- 
trigues than  for  its  military  exploits.  The  English  envoy,  M'Neill, 
had  protested  from  the  first,  declaring  the  attack  to  be  a  breach 
of  treaty  stipulations.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  English  action  was 
in  itself  a  violation  of  the  treaty  made  in  1814,  which  promised 
English  neutrality  in  case  of  war  between  Persia  and  Afghanistan. 
But  the  prevalent  idea  of  the  importance  of  Herat  and  the  suspi- 
cion that  Persian  conquest  would  be  but  a  step  to  Russian  occu- 
pation, determined  the  Indian  government  to  decisive  action.  An 
Indian  force  entered  the  Persian  Gulf  and  seized  the  Island  of 
Karak,  while  the  new  British  envoy,  Colonel  Stoddart,  by  his 
firm  attitude  persuaded  the  shah,  already  discouraged,  to  raise  the 
siege  September  9,  1838.  The  Russian  diplomacy  had  suffered  a 
severe  check.  Count  Simovich  was  recalled  and  his  actions 
promptly  disavowed  by  the  Russian*  minister,  Count  Nesselrode. 
Relations  between  Persia  and  England  remained  strained  till  1842, 
when  a  new  mission  headed  by  Sir  John  M'Neill  arrived  at  Te- 
heran, and  the  Island  of  Karak  was  evacuated.  But  meantime  the 
Russians  had  taken  advantage  of  the  situation  to  seize  the  Island 
of  Ashurada  in  the  Caspian,  thus  completing  their  hold  on  the 
inland  sea.  Only  one  other  event  of  note  marked  the  reign  of  Mo- 
hammed Shah — the  tragedy  of  Kerbela.  The  town  of  Kerbela, 
sacred  to  the  Shiahs  as  containing  the  tomb  of  Hosein  and  largely 
inhabited  by  Persians,  had  for  some  years  maintained  a  semi- 
independent  existence  and  defied  the  Turkish  authorities.    In  1843 


362  PERSIA 

1843-1852 

the  governor  of  Bagdad  stormed  the  town  and  put  to  death  3000 
persons,  many  of  them  innocent  pilgrims.  This  massacre  aroused 
the  utmost  horror  and  indignation  in  Persia,  and  war  was  only 
averted  by  the  prompt  apologies  and  offers  of  reparation  on  the 
part  of  the  Turkish  government.  Mohammed  Shah  died  in  1848. 
His  reign  represents  another  step  in  the  general  decay  of  Persia. 
The  shah,  a  soldier  of  some  repute  in  his  youth,  became  inbecile  in 
later  years  and  left  the  government  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
wretched  Hajji  Mirza,  who  plundered  and  oppressed  the  people  at 
will,  driving  the  few  honest  and  capable  officials  into  exile.  Per- 
sia's military  power  had  utterly  collapsed  since  the  death  of  Agha 
Mohammed;  for  the  attempt  to  build  up  an  efficient  force  trained 
in  the  European  fashion,  praisworthy  in  itself,  proved  a  failure, 
and  the  power  of  the  tribes  who  furnished  the  victorious  armies  of 
Nadir  Shah  was  now  broken. 

Mohammed  was  succeeded  by  Shah  Nasr  ud-din,  whose  long 
reign,  1848- 1896,  gave  continual  evidence  of  the  decline  of  Per- 
sia. The  new  sovereign  was  seated  on  the  throne  by  the  assistance 
of  Mirza  Taki,  the  capable  head  of  the  army,  who  became  vizir 
with  the  title  of  Amir  un  Nizam.  The  usual  rising  in  Khurasan 
was,  after  an  eighteen  months'  resistance,  put  down  by  the  capture  of 
Mashad  and  the  execution  of  the  rebel  leader.  Far  more  important 
and  dangerous  was  the  rise  of  a  new  fanatical  sect,  the  Babis. 
This  sect  was  founded  by  a  dervish,  Sad  AH  Mohammed,  who 
assumed  the  name  of  Bab  (Arabic  for  gate),  declared  himself  to 
be  a  prophet  and  preached  a  new  doctrine  founded  on  the  mystic 
Sufism  and  combining  elements  of  pantheism  and  extreme  social- 
ism. Driven  from  Bagdad,  Sad  Ali  returned  to  Persia  and  gained 
such  a  following,  especially  among  the  educated  classes,  that  the 
government  was  alarmed  and  declared  the  profession  of  Babism 
to  be  a  capital  crime.  Bab  was  seized  in  1848  and  condemned  to 
be  shot  in  the  great  square  at  Tabriz.  But  by  some  chance  he  was 
not  hit  at  the  first  discharge,  and  when  the  smoke  of  the  volley 
had  cleared  away  he  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  If  he  had  made 
good  his  escape  a  palpable  miracle  would  have  been  wrought  and 
Babism  gained  enormous  prestige.  But  unfortunately  for  the 
cause  he  was  soon  recaptured  and  dispatched.  The  movement 
continued,  however,  in  spite  of  fearful  persecutions.  The  Babis 
rose  in  arms  and  at  Zanzan  a  party  maintained  themselves  for  sev- 
eral months  and  died  fighting  to  the  last  man.     An  attempt  to 


MODERNPERSIA  S63 

1852-1857 

assassinate  the  shah  in  1852  led  to  renewed  persecution  and  a 
veritable  reign  of  terror.  Hundreds  were  put  to  death,  some  by 
frightful  tortures,  though  offered  their  lives  if  they  would  repeat 
the  Moslem  creed,  and  such  constancy  ended  by  arousing  pity  and 
admiration.  The  sect  still  exists,  especially  among  the  upper 
classes,  and  the  whole  remarkable  movement  shows  the  weakening 
grip  of  Mohammedanism  on  the  Persians,  who  are  by  nature  mys- 
tics and  schismatics. 

A  serious  reflection  on  the  character  of  Nasr  ud-din  is  his 
treatment  of  the  Amir  un  Nizam,  to  whom  he  owed  his  throne. 
Mirza  Taki  had  risen  from  the  lowest  ranks  by  force  of  his  own 
ability  and  had  proved  an  excellent  and  faithful  minister.  But  he 
made  the  mistake  of  treating  his  master  as  a  cipher  and  so  incurred 
the  hatred  of  the  harem  party  headed  by  the  queen-mother.  The 
shah  was  finally  persuaded  to  dismiss  him  and  he  was  shortly  after 
lured  from  his  wife's  apartments,  where  he  was  safe,  and  put  to 
death. 

The  chief  external  events  of  the  reign  of  Nasr  ud-din  were 
the  capture  of  Herat  and  the  war  with  England.  The  old  vizir 
of  Herat,  Yar  Mohammed,  had  succeeded  in  deposing  the  Abdali 
princes  in  1844  and  assuming  the  power  himself.  His  son  pro- 
fessed to  be  a  faithful  subject  of  Persia  and  in  1852  Persian  troops 
occupied  the  town,  but  withdrew  at  the  demand  of  the  English 
minister.  The  Crimean  War,  in  which  England  stood  as  the 
champion  of  the  hated  Sunnite  Turks,  tended  to  alienate  still  fur- 
ther the  Persians  from  the  English.  In  1855  new  complications 
arose  in  Afghanistan,  where  the  Abdalis  had  recovered  Herat, 
while  Dost  Mohammed  had  seized  Kandahar.  The  Persian  gov- 
ernment claimed  that  the  aggrandizements  of  Dost  Mohammed 
threatened  their  own  frontier  and  again  a  Persian  army  occupied 
Herat,  after  some  resistance,  in  October,  1856.  At  about  the  same 
time  the  British  envoy,  Charles  Murray,  after  a  long  series  of  petty 
persecutions,  left  Teheran  and  retired  to  Bagdad.  Fruitless  nego- 
tiations at  Constantinople  between  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe  and 
the  Persian  ambassador  were  brought  to  a  close  in  November, 
when  the  Indian  government  declared  war  and  a  British  expedi- 
tion landed  in  the  Persian  Gulf  and  stormed  Bushire.  In  January, 
1857,  Sir  James  Outram,  with  5000  men,  attacked  and  routed  7000 
Persians  at  Kush-ab.  Then  turning  northward  he  entered  the  vul- 
nerable province  of  Arabistan,  whence  access  was  easy  to  the  in- 


364  PERSIA 

1857-1898 

terior.  Outram  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Karun  River  and  the 
Persian  commander,  Prince  Khalar  Mirza,  who  had  an  army  of 
13,000  men,  fled  in  disgraceful  cowardice  without  striking  a  blow. 
The  English  advance  was  only  checked  by  the  news  of  the  signa- 
ture of  a  treaty  of  peace  at  Paris  on  March  4,  1858.  By  the  Treaty 
of  Paris,  Persia  agreed  to  evacuate  Herat,  relinquish  all  claims  of 
suzerainty  and  to  abstain  from  all  further  interference  with  the 
internal  affairs  of  Afghanistan.  Herat  was  soon  after  taken  by 
the  English  protege,  Dost  Mohammed,  and  has  since  remained  a 
part  of  the  dominions  of  the  amir  of  Afghanistan. 

From  this  time  on  the  reign  of  Nasr  ud-din  remained  a  peace- 
ful one.  Its  chief  features  were  the  numerous  schemes  of  reform 
always  eagerly  adopted  and  always  quickly  dropped  by  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  steady  continuance  of  the  commercial  and  political 
duel  between  Russia  and  Great  Britain  for  a  dominant  position  at 
the  Persian  court.  In  1872  a  telegraph  line  to  connect  India  with 
Europe  was  completed  across  Persia  and  opened  under  the  man- 
agement of  the  Indo-European  Telegraph  Company.  The  first 
railroad  in  Persia,  a  line  five  miles  in  length,  from  Teheran  to 
Shah  Abdul  Azim,  was  opened  in  1884.  But  when  in  1889  Baron 
de  Reuter,  representing  English  interests,  got  a  concession  to  estab- 
lish an  imperial  bank  with  sole  right  to  issue  bank  notes  and  with 
a  certain  mining  monopoly,  the  Russians  in  turn  received  an  ex- 
clusive concession  to  build  railroads  in  Persia.  Since  then  no  rail- 
roads have  been  built  and  the  little  line  at  Teheran  remains  unique. 
Nasr  ud-din  made  three  visits  to  Europe  and  was  everywhere  hos- 
pitably received,  but  the  result  to  Persia  was  nothing  but  a  new 
drain  on  her  finances.  In  1896  the  shah,  who  was  about  to  cele- 
brate the  fiftieth  (lunar)  year  of  his  accession,  was  assassinated  by 
a  Persian  anarchist  while  praying  at  the  shrine  of  Shah  Abdul 
Aziz. 

The  new  shah,  Muzaffar  ud-din,  found  the  country  in  well- 
nigh  desperate  straits,  due  partly  to  an  excessive  coinage  of  copper 
which  had  raised  prices  and  ruined  trade,  and  partly  to  the  state 
of  chronic  misgovernment.  The  debased  coinage  was  withdrawn, 
though  at  heavy  expense  to  the  government;  but  the  vizir,  Amir 
ud  Daulah,  met  with  failure  in  his  efforts  to  systematize  the  budget 
and  to  reorganize  the  revenue  department.  In  1898  the  distressed 
government  attempted  to  raise  a  loan  in  England.  But  the  British 
government  failed  to  rise  to  the  opportunity,  and  private  interests, 


MODERN    PERSIA  365 

1898-1910 

made  shy  by  past  failures  of  British  enterprise  in  Persia,  de- 
manded the  surrender  of  certain  customs  houses  to  their  control. 
This  demand,  equivalent  to  an  accusation  of  bankruptcy,  could  not 
be  accepted  without  loss  of  prestige  and  the  negotiations  fell 
through.  The  Persians  now  turned  to  Russia  in  1900  and  in- 
stantly obtained  far  more  favorable  terms.  A  loan  was  made  of 
22,500,000  rubles  ($12,000,000)  issue  at  85  and  bearing  five  per 
cent,  interest,  secured  by  a  guarantee  on  all  the  customs  save  those 
collected  in  the  Persian  Gulf.  Moreover  the  Russian  government 
undertook  to  personally  safeguard  the  interests  of  the  bondholders. 
The  result  to  Persia  was  the  payment  of  old  and  pressing  debts  and 
a  revival  of  trade  due  to  the  large  increase  of  money  put  into  cir- 
culation. One  reform  in  this  reign,  carried  out  by  the  popular 
vizir,  Amin  es  Sultan,  was  the  abolition  of  the  wretched  system  of 
farming  the  revenues  and  the  organization  of  a  regular  customs 
service  under  Belgian  control. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Shah  had  developed  a  serious  illness  and 
journeyed  to  Europe  to  consult  specialists;  but  his  health  con- 
tinued to  grow  worse.  At  this  time,  the  summer  of  1906,  many 
secret  societies  were  formed  at  which  political  subjects  were  dis- 
cussed and  which  the  central  government  seemed  unable  to  put 
down.  There  was  a  scarcity  of  grain  and  the  price  of  bread  rose. 
Cholera  also  appeared  and  thousands  of  the  people  died.  Just  at 
this  moment  the  government  officials  attempted  to  arrest  a  Mo- 
hammedan priest  for  his  expressed  accusations  against  certain  high 
officials.  When  the  police  attempted  to  arrest  him  he  was  rescued 
by  his  followers.  The  soldiers  were  then  called  out  and  a  number 
of  citizens,  among  them  a  sayid,  were  killed  in  the  riot  that  fol- 
lowed. The  people  were  aroused  and  marched  through  the  streets 
carrying  the  bloody  shirt  of  the  sayid,  but  the  government  soon 
had  matters  well  in  hand  and  no  further  bloodshed  occurred.  The 
bazaars  were  then  closed  and  5000  merchants  and  artisans,  accom- 
panied by  some  priests,  marched  to  the  British  legation,  where  they 
informed  the  minister  they  would  remain  while  the  English  gov- 
ernment adjusted  their  cause  with  the  Persian  government.  All 
business  in  Teheran  except  the  mails  and  that  of  the  butcher  and 
the  baker  ceased.  At  first  the  demands  were  limited  to  reforms 
which  would  lower  the  price  of  bread  and  meat  and  which  would 
lessen  the  amount  of  graft  in  public  office. 

For  some  time  the  Shah  was  unacquainted  with  the  situation, 


366  PERSIA 

1898-1910 

his  sickness  being  much  increased.  When  the  facts  were  made 
known  to  him,  he  at  once  dismissed  the  premier,  Amir  ud  Daulah, 
and  summoned  the  leaders  of  the  people  for  consultation.  These 
leaders  had  decided  during  the  weeks  that  they  had  spent  in  the 
British  legation  that  the  only  way  in  which  they  could  obtain 
permanent  benefits  from  their  efforts  would  be  to  have  a  share  in 
governmental  affairs.  The  first  talk  was  of  an  advisory  council, 
but  later  they  decided  to  demand  a  constitutional  form  of  govern- 
ment with  a  national  assembly.  The  Shah  acceded  to  their  de- 
mands and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  temporary 
constitution.  The  people  returned  to  their  homes  and  business 
went  on  as  before. 

About  the  first  of  October  the  first  election  was  held  in  Persia, 
and  October  7,  1906,  the  National  Assembly  was  inaugurated.  The 
speech  from  the  throne  was  all  that  the  people  could  desire. 

The  illness  of  the  Shah  continued  to  increase  in  spite  of  all 
that  could  be  done  for  him,  and  on  January  9,  1907,  the  announce- 
ment was  made  that  "The  King  of  Kings  now  rests  with  his 
fathers."  Ten  days  later  the  new  Shah,  Mohammed  Ali  Mirza,  was 
crowned. 

Soon  after  the  coronation  complaints  poured  in  upon  the  Shah 
about  M.  Naus,  a  Belgian,  the  Minister  of  Customs  and  Posts. 
For  several  months  the  question  of  his  being  retained  in  office 
hung  fire,  until  the  Minister  was  attacked  in  the  street  by  a  band  of 
infuriated  men.  The  European  legations  resented  this  attack,  al- 
though the  protest  was  not  made  in  order  that  M.  Naus  might  be 
retained  in  his  position,  but  it  was  against  allowing  a  European 
to  be  attacked  on  the  street  by  irresponsible  persons.  The  oppo- 
sition against  the  Minister  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  the  country. 

Following  close  upon  this  incident  came  a  rebellion  in  the 
region  of  Hamadan  and  Kermanshah,  led  by  Prince  Salar  ud 
Daulah,  half-brother  to  the  Shah.  He  had  organized  a  strong 
though  undiciplined  force,  gathered  mostly  from  the  hill  tribes  of 
Kurdistan.  It  is  believed  that  he  intended  to  contest  the  throne, 
but  the  Shah  was  loyally  supported  by  the  National  Assembly  and 
after  a  month  the  rebellion  was  entirely  quelled. 

The  Shah  now  sent  for  Ali  Ashair,  Amin  es  Sultan,  who  had 
been  in  exile  for  the  last  four  years.  The  new  premier  found  it 
impossible  to  adjust  himself  to  the  new  conditions  in  Persia  and 


MODERN    PERSIA  367 

1898-1910 

he  became  very  unpopular.  On  the  evening  of  September  2,  1907, 
as  he  was  leaving  the  parliament,  he  was  fatally  shot  by  an  assas- 
sin, who  immediately  committed  suicide.  The  premier  was  buried 
without  special  honors,  but  the  grave  of  the  murderer  at  once  be- 
came a  place  of  pilgrimage.  Just  at  this  time  the  terms  of  the 
Anglo-Russian  agreement  were  made  public  and  caused  some  feel- 
ing on  the  part  of  many  of  the  leaders,  they  believing  it  to  be  a 
check  on  the  commercial  and  political  independence  of  their  coun- 
try ;  instead  of  which  it  is  confined  to  reciprocal  stipulations  on  the 
part  of  Russia  and  Great  Britain  and  to  a  recognition  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  "the  open  door."  To  add  to  the  difficulties  of  the  situation 
Turkish  troops  crossed  the  frontier  and  laid  claim  to  territory 
about  Urumia  and  Salmas,  and  an  army  sent  to  the  region  under 
the  leadership  of  Prince  Firma  Firman  was  defeated. 

Mohammed  AH  Mirza  paid  his  first  visit  to  the  National  As- 
sembly in  November,  1907.  He  was  received  with  all  due  honors, 
and  a  little  friction  between  the  executive  and  legislative  branches 
of  the  government  arising  a  few  weeks  later  was  quickly  and  amic- 
ably settled.  Several  months  later  an  unsuccessful  attempt  was 
made  to  assassinate  the  Shah  as  he  was  returning  from  an  excur- 
sion to  the  country. 

In  June,  1908,  the  Shah  sent  some  soldiers  to  the  parliament 
building  to  arrest  certain  persons  charged  with  conspiracy  who 
were  seeking  protection  there.  The  Assembly  refused  to  hand  over 
these  persons.  This  was  followed  by  some  violence  on  the  part  of 
the  Cossacks  and  the  throwing  of  a  bomb.  The  soldiers  then  at- 
tacked the  parliament  house,  cannonading  it  and  destroying  it. 
Panic  prevailed  throughout  the  city  and  order  was  only  restored 
by  resorting  to  martial  law.  Several  of  the  Liberal  leaders  were 
executed.    Thus  ended  Persia's  first  parliament. 

In  the  early  months  of  1909  actual  civil  war  broke  out  in  Per- 
sia, the  leaders  of  the  Liberals  or  Nationalists,  at  the  head  of  well 
equipped  and  drilled  troops,  overthrowing  the  Shah's  authority  in 
many  towns  and  setting  up  reform  governments.  At  the  same  time 
Turkoman  tribes  from  Russian  Turkestan  captured  Meshed  and 
Astrahabed,  holding  them  against  both  government  and  revolution- 
ary Persian  forces  and  indulging  in  wholesale  massacres.  Russian 
troops  took  an  important  part  in  the  fighting,  attempting  to  aid  the 
Shah  to  quiet  his  kingdom,  and  England  threatened  to  bring  in  her 
forces  if  peace  were  not  soon  restored. 


368  PERSIA 

1898-1910 

On  July  13,  1909,  the  revolutionists  entered  Teheran,  the  cap- 
ital, in  triumph.  On  July  16,  the  Shah,  who  had  taken  refuge  in 
the  Russian  legation,  was  formally  dethroned  and  his  son,  the 
Crown  Prince  Ahmed  Mirza,  was  proclaimed  King  of  Kings  by  the 
National  Assembly  at  Teheran.  As  the  new  ruler  was  a  mere  lad 
of  twelve  years,  his  uncle,  Azud  es  Sultan,  was  appointed  regent. 

On  November  15th  of  this  same  year,  the  Persian  Parliament 
was  opened  by  the  youthful  Shah  at  Teheran,  the  capital. 

The  important  fact  in  the  history  of  Persia  for  the  last  cen- 
tury has  been  the  constant  rivalry  of  England  and  Russia  for  con- 
trol of  that  rapidly  decaying  state.  Flanked  on  the  east  by  Afghan- 
istan and  on  the  west  by  the  Ottoman  empire,  two  powers  which, 
if  not  formidable,  are  hated  by  the  Persians  for  racial  and  religious 
causes,  Persia  lies  as  in  a  vise  between  Russian  pressure  on  the 
north  and  English  pressure  on  the  south.  To  appreciate  the 
present  status  of  these  two  powers,  in  whose  hands  lies  the  future 
of  the  land  of  Iran,  we  must  retrace  our  steps  and  briefly  recapitu- 
late the  events  which  have  led  to  their  establishment  in  the  north 
and  south  of  Persia. 

The  Persians  have  never  been  a  seafaring  people  and  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  from  the  day  when  Nearchus,  admiral  of  Alexander, 
sailed  a  Greek  fleet  into  its  waters,  has  never  been  an  undisputed 
Persian  possession.  The  Arabs,  on  the  contrary,  in  the  course  of 
their  expansion  soon  took  to  the  sea,  and  on  first  entering  Persia 
founded  the  city  of  Basra  at  the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates,  the  future 
port  of  Bagdad.  Thence  the  Arab  sailors  carried  their  voyages  to 
Africa  and  the  Far  East,  and  as  early  as  the  ninth  century  estab- 
lished regular  trade  relations  with  China.  We  read  in  the  exploits 
of  Sinbad  the  Sailor  a  marvelous  picture  of  this  phase  of  commer- 
cial expansion.  Ormuz,  long  before  the  time  of  Albuquerque,  was 
an  Arab  emporium  and  to  this  day  the  population  of  the  gulf 
region  is  almost  wholly  Arab. 


MODERN    PERSIA  369 

1910 

After  the  fall  of  the  Portuguese  supremacy  in  the  days  of 
Abbas  the  Great  the  foreign  trade  of  the  gulf  was  shared  between 
the  English  and  the  Dutch.  The  rise  of  the  English  to  a  pre- 
dominant position  was  greatly  assisted  by  their  friendly  relations 
with  the  Seyyids  of  Muscat  or  Oman,  the  most  powerful  Arab 
state  in  that  region.  The  Seyyid  of  Muscat  in  1652  drove  out  the 
Portuguese  and  soon  extended  his  rule  over  a  large  part  of  the 
Arabian  and  east  African  coasts.  The  immediate  cause  of  Brit- 
ish political  intervention  in  the  gulf  was  the  necessity  of  protect- 
ing British  commerce  from  the  attacks  of  the  Arab  pirates  who 
inhabit  the  so-called  Pirate  coast.  In  18 10  the  governor  of  Bombay 
attacked  them  in  alliance  with  Muscat,  but  the  piracies  were  imme- 
diately resumed  on  the  withdrawal  of  the  fleet.  In  1819-1821  new 
expeditions  after  meeting  an  extraordinary  resistance  finally  re- 
sulted in  the  subjugation  of  the  tribesmen.  Henceforth  a  British 
squadron  was  kept  in  the  gulf  to  suppress  piracy  and  the  slave  trade, 
to  preserve  the  status  quo  among  the  native  chiefs,  and  to  prevent 
all  foreign  encroachments.  The  rulers  of  Oman  have  always  re- 
mained good  friends  of  the  English,  but  their  power  has  of  late 
declined.  To-day  the  Persian  Gulf  is  politically  as  well  as  com- 
mercially entirely  in  British  hands.  England's  influence  is  para- 
mount at  Muscat,  a  British  resident  resides  at  Bushire,  while  the 
Pirate  coast,  the  pearl  island  of  Bahrein,  and  the  port  of  Koweit 
are  under  her  protection. 

In  northern  Persia,  on  the  other  hand,  the  position  of  Russia 
is  unquestionably  predominant  and  apparently  unshakable.  We 
have  seen  how  the  Russian  advance  along  the  western  shore  of  the 
Caspian,  begun  in  the  days  of  Peter  the  Great,  ended  in  the  Treaty 
of  Turkmanchai,  which  established  the  Russian  boundary  within 
striking  distance  of  the  Persian  capital  and  turned  the  Caspian  into 
a  Russian  lake.  All  that  was  necessary  to  complete  the  Russian 
grip  was  a  similar  advance  on  Persia's  eastern  borders.  The  Rus- 
sian territories  in  central  Asia  are  divided  by  the  topography  of  the 
country  into  two  major  divisions — Turkestan  and  Transcaspia  or 
Turkomania.  The  Russian  conquest  of  Turkestan  need  not  detain 
us.  Begun  in  18 12  by  the  invasion  of  the  Kirghiz  Steppe,  it  cul- 
minated in  the  eventful  years  1865- 1873  with  the  capture  of  Tash- 
kent, Samarkand,  Bokhara,  and  Khiva,  which  brought  the  Russians 
to  the  borders  of  Afghanistan. 

The  conquest  of  the  Transcaspian  region  is  of  more  immediate 


370 


PERSIA 


1910 

concern  to  the  Persian  problem.  The  region  between  the  Caspian, 
the  Sea  of  Aral,  and  the  Oxus  is  largely  a  great  and  barren  plain, 
with  here  and  there  stretches  of  more  fertile  country,  such  as  the 
Oasis  of  Merv.  This  region  was  peopled  by  the  Turkomans,  semi- 
nomadic  tribes  of  Turkish  stock  who  lived  largely  by  marauding 
and  kept  the  rich  province  of  Khurasan  in  continual  alarm.  Among 
these  tribes  the  most  powerful  was  that  of  the  Tekkes,  who  held  the 
great  Akhul  Oasis  as  well  as  that  of  Merv,  resisting  all  Persian 
efforts  to  dislodge  them  or  to  suppress  their  forays.  The  Russian 
occupation  of  this  region  began  with  the  establishment  of  Fort 
Novo  Alexandrovsk  on  the  Caspian  in  1834.  In  1869,  Krasnovodsk, 


now  the  chief  port  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Caspian,  was  founded 
and  by  1874  a  province  of  Transcaspia  had  been  set  up.  The  Rus- 
sians soon  came  into  conflict  with  the  Tekkes,  but  at  first  with  little 
success.  Three  expeditions  against  the  Turkoman  fastness  of  Kizil 
Arvat  proved  failures,  and  in  1879  General  Lomakin  suffered  a 
severe  defeat  at  their  hands.  It  was  not  till  1881  that  the  decisive 
blow  was  struck  which  established  Russian  rule  throughout  Turko- 
mania.  In  January,  1881,  General  Mikhail  Skobelev,  the  hero  of 
Plevna,  with  7000  men,  stormed  the  Tekke  fortress  at  Geok  Tepe, 
where  were  assembled  35,000  men,  women,  and  children,  with 
10,000  horsemen.  No  quarter  was  given  by  the  Russians,  who 
spared  neither  age  nor  sex.  Nearly  20,000  persons  were  slain  in  the 
fort  and  during  the  pursuit,  while  the  Russians  lost  barely  1000  men. 


IN    A   PERSIAN   CARPET  BAZAAR 
Painting  by  J.  L.  Gerome 


MODERN    PERSIA  370a 

1910 

This  butchery  broke,  or  rather  annihilated,  the  Turkoman  power, 
and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  survivors  of  the  massacre  have 
become  loyal  subjects  of  the  tsar.  The  victory  of  Geok  Tepe 
brought  Russia  to  the  borders  of  Khurasan,  which  was  henceforth 
freed  from  the  scourge  of  Turkoman  raiders.  Askabad  and  Merv 
soon  fell  into  Russian  hands  and  the  Muscovite  position  was  defi- 
nitely consolidated  by  the  completion  of  the  Transcaspian  Railroad, 
which  connects  the  Caspian  with  Turkestan,  running  close  to  the 
Persian  border.  As  matters  stand  to-day,  the  richest  of  all  the 
Persian  provinces,  Khurasan,  lies  practically  in  Russian  hands,  for, 
cut  off  as  it  is  from  Teheran  by  the  vast  deserts  of  central  Iran,  it 
is  bound  by  the  railroad  closer  to  Russia  than  to  Persia. 

With  so  commanding  a  position  along  the  Persian  frontier, 
Russia  has  been  able  of  late  years  to  dominate  the  court  of  Teheran 
so  completely  that  Muzaffar  ud-din  would  seem  to  be  little  better 
than  a  vassal  of  the  great  northern  power,  which  controls  his  finances, 
his  court,  and  the  organization  of  his  army.  Moreover,  the  trade 
of  Persia,  hitherto  mostly  in  English  hands,  has  now  to  be  divided 
with  the  Slav.  England  and  Russia  control  between  them  more  than 
four-fifths  of  the  foreign  trade  of  Persia.  In  1890,  of  a  foreign  trade 
worth  $37,500,000,  England's  share  was  $15,000,000,  Russia's  only 
$4,500,000.  But  in  the  last  score  of  years  matters  have  changed. 
By  1903  the  Russian  trade  had  risen  to  nearly  fifteen  millions,  of 
which  $6,000,000  were  exports  from  Persia,  $8,800,000  imports 
into  Persia;  while  England's  share  was  about  eighteen  millions, 
$16,400,000  imports  and  $1,400,000  exports.  The  Russian  increase 
since  1890  had  been  350  per  cent.,  the  English  only  20  per  cent. 
This  vast  expansion  of  Russian  trade  is  due  largely  to  the  active 
interest  of  the  government,  which,  by  cheapening  means  of  transport 
and  by  granting  bounties,  has  enabled  the  Muscovite  merchant  to 
undersell  his  English  rival  throughout  northern  Persia,  though 
England's  hold  in  the  south  is  still  unshaken. 

The  most  serious  problem  for  Persian  commerce,  aside  from 
the  question  of  transport,  is  that  of  her  balance  of  trade.  Her  im- 
ports are  vastly  in  excess  of  her  exports,  and  the  result  is  a  con- 
tinual drain  on  the  money  wealth  of  the  country.  And  the  figures 
given  above  show  Persia's  trade  with  Russia  is  on  a  far  sounder 
and  more  natural  basis  than  that  with  England.  While  Russia 
buys  from  Persia  almost  as  much  as  she  sells,  England  sells  to 
Persia  twelve  times  as  much  as  she  purchases  from  her. 


370b 


PERSIA 


1910 

But  Russia  has  not  been  wholly  content  with  her  position  as 
actual  ruler  in  Teheran  and  northern  Persia.  Her  ambition  has 
been  here,  as  elsewhere,  not  so  much  to  annex  territory,  as  to  carve 
her  way  southward  to  the  open  sea.  It  is  even  supposed  that  the 
port  of  Bander  Abbas,  which  commands  the  entrance  to  the  gulf 
and  could  with  little  expense  be  converted  into  a  magnificent  road- 
stead, has  already  been  chosen  by  the  Russians  as  their  future  naval 
station  on  the  Indian  Ocean.  Such  a  plan,  however,  could  never 
meet  with  British  assent,  for  a  Russian  port  on  the  Indian  Ocean 
would  be  a  more  serious  menace  to  India  than  even  the  presence  of 
a  Russian  army  in  Herat.  The  sudden  activity  of  England  in  the 
Persian  Gulf  since  1902,  the  occupation  of  Koweit,  the  visit  of  the 
viceroy  of  India,  Lord  Curzon,  in  1903,  and  the  definite  statement 
of  Lord  Lansdowne  in  1904,  that  England  would  tolerate  no  for- 
eign naval  station  in  that  region,  may  be  taken  as  an  answer  to  the 
Russian  challenge.  To  sum  up — Russia  controls  to-day  (1910) 
northern  Persia,  and  her  influence  is  supreme  at  Teheran ;  England 
has  practically  turned  the  Persian  Gulf  into  a  British  lake,  and  her 
influence  and  commerce  are  still  preponderant  in  the  neighboring 
provinces. 

The  history  of  Persia,  stretching  over  more  than  twenty-five 
centuries,  presents  as  varied  and  kaleidoscopic  a  picture  as  that  of 
any  nation.  Conquered  and  ravaged  by  invader  after  invader, 
Assyrian,  Greek,  Parthian,  Roman,  Arab,  Turk,  Mongol,  and 
Afghan,  Persia  has  throughout  displayed  marvelous  vitality  and 
power  of  recuperation.  Over  all  her  conquerors  she  has  extended 
the  sway  of  her  art,  literature,  culture,  and  traditions.  Nothing 
can  indeed  be  more  striking  than  the  persistent  efforts  of  her  for- 
eign and  often  barbaric  dynasties  to  connect  themselves  with  the 
grandeur  of  her  past  and  to  pose  as  descendants  of  old  national 
kings  or  heroes.  Whatever  her  future  may  be,  Persia  can  look  back 
on  a  past  more  varied,  more  glorious,  and,  with  perhaps  one  excep- 
tion, more  worthy  of  study  than  that  of  any  other  Asiatic  nation. 


Chapter  V 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  PERSIA 

OUR  sketch  of  Persian  history  would  scarcely  be  complete, 
nor  will  the  conditions  governing  the  present  political 
status  of  Persia,  as  well  as  the  political  history  of  the 
past,  be  clearly  understood  without  a  glance  at  the  organization  of 
the  Persian  state. 

Up  to  1906  Persia  was  an  absolute  monarchy,  under  an  auto- 
crat whose  authority  was  nominally  unlimited.  In  theory  the 
Shah  had  supreme  power  over  his  subjects,  who  held  their  lives 
and  land  at  his  pleasure.  His  power  and  the  reverence  he  inspired 
are  well  expressed  by  the  empty  splendor  of  his  titles,  once  indeed 
far  more  expressive  of  actual  conditions.  He  is  Shah  in  Shah, 
King  of  Kings,  Zill  Ullah,  the  shadow  of  God,  and  Kebla  Alam,  the 
center  of  the  world. 

In  1905,  however,  the  Persian  people  demanded  representation 
in  governmental  affairs  and  in  January,  1906,  the  Shah  gave  his 
consent  to  the  establishment  of  a  National  Assembly.  Under  a 
rescript  of  August  5,  1906,  it  was  decided  that  the  National  Assembly 
should  consist  of  and  be  elected  by  members  of  the  reiging  family, 
clergy,  chiefs,  nobles,  landowners,  merchants,  and  tradesmen.  The 
number  of  members  was  fixed  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  six,  sixty 
for  Teheran  and  ninety  six  for  the  provinces,  by  an  ordinance 
dated  September  10,  1906.  The  number  of  members  may  in  the 
future  be  raised  to  200;  they  are  elected  for  a  term  of  two  years, 
and  have  immunity  from  prosecution  except  with  the  knowledge 
of  the  Assembly  at  large.  Ministers  or  their  delegates  may  appear 
and  speak  in  the  National  Assembly ;  the  sanction  of  the  parliament 
is  necessary  for  all  territorial  changes ;  for  alienation  of  State  prop- 
erty ;  for  contracting  of  loans ;  for  the  construction  of  road  and  rail- 
roads; for  the  granting  of  concessions,  and  for  the  ratification  of 
all  treaties,  except  such  as  in  the  interest  of  the  State  demand 
secrecy. 

371 


372  GOVERNMENT    OF    PERSIA 

1910 

There  is  a  Senate  of  sixty  members,  of  whom  thirty  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  Shah  (or  regent)  and  thirty  are  elected  on  behalf 
of  the  National  Assembly,  fifteen  of  each  class  being  from  Teheran 
and  fifteen  from  the  provinces.  The  executive  function,  according 
to  the  Constitution  is  invested  in  a  cabinet  of  eight  members. 

For  purposes  of  internal  government,  Persia  is  divided  to-day, 
as  from  time  immemorial,  into  provinces  large  and  small,  with 
governors  who  correspond  closely  to  the  satraps  of  Achaemenian  or 
Sassanian  days.  The  greater  provinces,  like  Azerbaijan  and  Khu- 
rasan, are  called  mamlikat  or  kingdoms,  and  their  governors,  often 
princes  of  the  blood  royal,  are  called  vali.  The  smaller  provinces 
are  called  vilayets  or  eyalats.  These  provinces  are  again  divided 
into  districts,  cities,  and  villages,  with  officials  responsible  to  the 
provincial  governors.  The  governors  sometimes  hold  their  posi- 
tions by  hereditary  right,  but  are  more  commonly  appointed  by  the 
shah,  and  frequently  changed  lest  their  influence  should  become 
too  great.  An  exception  is  the  great  province  of  Azerbaijan,  which 
is  always  ruled  by  the  heir  to  the  throne.  Among  the  minor  offi- 
cials who  administer  justice  and  collect  the  taxes  are  the  mayors 
of  the  town,  variously  called  haikim,  beglar  begi,  or  kalantars,  and 
the  village  headmen,  the  kathodas,  often  nominated  by  the  vil- 
lagers themselves. 

Distinct  from  the  general  organization  is  that  of  the  nomad 
tribesmen,  Arabs,  Turkomans,  Kurds,  Baluchis,  and  Lurs,  who 
form  more  than  a  fifth  of  the  population.  These  tribes,  which  to-day 
are  becoming  more  and  more  settled  in  the  land,  are  ruled  by 
hereditary  chiefs  called  ilkhans.  They  pay  no  regular  taxes,  giving 
tribute  instead,  and  furnishing  excellent  irregular  cavalry  to  the 
army. 

Persian  law,  like  that  of  all  Mohammedan  countries,  is  founded 
chiefly  on  the  religious  precepts  of  the  faith.  But  here,  as  elsewhere, 
a  customary  law  has  grown  up,  drawn  from  ancient  Persian  and 
Tatar,  as  well  as  from  Mohammedan,  sources;  with  the  result  that 
there  exist  in  the  kingdom  to-day  two  distinct  and  rival  legal  sys- 
tems— the  Shahr  or  religious  law,  and  the  Urf  or  secular  law.  The 
Shahr,  the  strictly  religious  law,  is  confined  to-day  chiefly  to  civil 
cases — questions  of  property,  marriage,  inheritance,  and  the  like. 
Founded  on  the  basis  of  the  Koran  and  the  precepts  of  the  Twelve 
Imams,  it  is,  naturally,  administered  by  learned  priests  or  mullas 
who  in  the  large  cities  are  appointed  bv  the  shah,  with  the  title  of 


THE     GOVERNMENT     OF     PERSIA       373 

sheikh  ul  islam  or  kadi.  But  these  judges  are  not  controlled  by  the 
secular  power,  and  any  man  who  by  his  learning  reaches  the  high 
grade  of  mujtahid  may  administer  the  Shahr  equally  with  the 
priests  appointed  by  the  shah  himself.  The  chief  of  all  these  judges 
is  the  great  mujtahid,  generally  the  head  of  the  priesthood  at  Ker- 
bela,  the  sacred  city  of  the  Shiahs.  The  Shahr  differs  from  ordinary 
Mohammedan  law  inasmuch  as  it  embraces  besides  the  Koran  the 
sayings  of  the  Twelve  Imams  and  the  interpretations  of  a  long  line 
of  Persian  doctors  of  law.  It  forms  a  regular  and  explicit  as  well 
as  extremely  inflexible  code,  regulating  every  detail  of  life  in 
the  minutest  manner,  as  well  as  more  evidently  legal  matters.  Over 
five  hundred  laws  regulate  questions  of  religious  worship,  while 
more  than  fourteen  hundred  deal  with  matters  of  marriage  and 
divorce. 

The  Urf,  or  secular  law,  embraces  all  criminal  matters,  as  well 
as  many  civil  cases.  It  is  administered  by  the  government  officials, 
and  final  appeals  go  to  the  divan  or  council  of  state,  or  to  the  shah 
himself,  whose  consent  is  necessary  for  all  capital  executions.  Per- 
sian criminal  law  is  in  a  curiously  chaotic  state,  though  attempts 
have  been  made  to  codify  it,  and  it  still  contains  many  strange 
survivals  of  the  past.  Composition  of  offenses  by  heavy  fine  is  fre- 
quently allowed,  asylums  of  refuge  for  criminals  still  exist  in  cer- 
tain holy  places,  and  the  right  of  private  vengeance  is  sometimes 
recognized.  Punishment  by  mutilation  and  whipping  is  often  sub- 
stituted for  imprisonment*. 

It  is  inevitable,  under  this  dual  system  of  law,  that  conflicts 
should  frequently  arise  between  the  clerical  and  secular  jurisdic- 
tions. Formerly  the  law  was  entirely  administered  by  the  mullas. 
But  since  the  days  of  Nadir  Shah  the  secular  law  has  steadily  en- 
croached on  the  religious,  and  it  has  been  the  constant  policy  of 
recent  shahs  to  limit  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Shahr  as  far  as  possible 
and  to  add  all  manner  of  cases  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Urf. 

The  success  of  the  shahs  in  this  direction  is  largely  due  to  the 
nature  of  the  religious  organization  of  Persia,  which  presents  in  a 
marked  degree  the  peculiarities  of  that  of  all  Mohammedan  coun- 
tries. We  must  not  forget  that  there  exists  no  fixed  priestly  caste 
in  Islam.  The  priests  are  merely  the  ulema,  that  is,  men  learned  in 
the  law,  which,  as  has  been  noted,  is  thoroughly  religious  in  its 
essence.  In  Persia,  anyone  capable  of  reading  and  expounding  the 
Koran  may  act  as  a  mulla  or  priest  and  officiate  in  religious  cere- 


374  PERSIA 

monies.  Besides  conducting  religious  services,  the  mullas  serve 
as  judges  and  as  teachers  in  the  colleges,  which  exist  in  every  city 
and  town  of  any  size.  When  a  priest  becomes  widely  known  for  his 
learning  and  sanctity  he  is  called  mujtahid,  a  title  gained  not  by 
appointment,  but  held  in  view  of  his  general,  repute,  though  the 
mujtahids  of  the  sacred  cities  of  Kerbela  and  Nedjef  give  an  official 
sanction  to  its  assumption. 

At  the  head  of  all  the  priesthood  stands  the  Naib  el  Imam,  the 
chief  mujtahid  of  Kerbela,  who  is  regarded  by  Shiahs  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  imams  and  the  vicegerent  of  the  Prophet.  He  is,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  chief  interpreter  of  the  religious  law  and  final 
judge  of  all  cases  under  it.  His  authority,  though  purely  moral,  is 
enormous  and  his  influence  is  acknowledged  by  the  shah  himself. 
The  shah  has  no  authority  over  the  ulema  as  such,  but,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  may  appoint  the  sheikhs  ul  islam,  and  he  frequently  nom- 
inates the  imams,  or  heads  of  the  large  mosques.  In  a  country  so 
thoroughly  Mohammedan  as  is  Persia,  where  Christians,  Jews,  and 
Zoroastrians  together  form  less  than  a  fiftieth  part  of  the  population, 
the  influence  of  the  priesthood  cannot  but  be  important.  But  as  a 
class  they  are  not  highly  reverenced  by  the  people,  and  the  whole 
influence  of  the  government  has  been  steadily  devoted  to  limiting 
their  authority. 


THE  OPENING  OF  TIBET 

The  Currency  Question  in  India, 

AND 

Famines  of  India 
By  George  M.   Dutcher,  Ph.  D., 

Piofessor  of   History,    Wesleyan   University 


The  Opening  of    Tibet 

TIBET  is  the  lofty  tableland  north  of  the  Himalayas  in 
which  are  the  headwaters  of  such  great  rivers  as  the 
Indus  and  the  Brahmaputra  of  India,  as  the  Mekong, 
and  the  Salwin  of  Indo-China,  and  as  the  Yangtse  and  the 
Hoang  of  China.  Its  extent  is  not  definitely  known,  but  it  may 
be  roughly  fixed  at  about  463,200  square  miles  with  a  scanty 
population  of  perhaps  6,430,000.  The  country  is  under  the  nom- 
inal suzerainty  of  China,  and  the  most  important  part  of  it  was 
under  the  direct  rule  of  the  Dalai  Lama  of  Lhasa  and  his  nine 
ministers,  five  priests  and  four  laymen,  assisted  by  the  Chinese 
amban  or  resident.  The  real  power  seems  to  have  been  lodged 
in  a  sort  of  prime  minister,  the  De-sri,  for  the  Dalai  Lama  has 
rarely  attained  to  years  of  manhood,  though  the  last  was  about 
twenty-eight  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  flight  from  Lhasa. 

The  indigenous  religion  of  Tibet,  which  still  persists  to  some 
extent,  was  Shamanism.  Buddhism  was  introduced  in  the  seventh 
century  and  gradually  became  prevalent  in  the  form  of  Lamaism. 
The  title  of  "  Dalai  Lama,"  literally  "  ocean  lama,"  popularly 
called  "  the  grand  lama,"  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin,  dating 
from  about  1600. 

The  tide  of  history  has  flowed  around  Tibet  and  left  it  in 
an  almost  perpetual  isolation.  Prior  to  1800  several  Europeans 
visited  Tibet  and  even  Lhasa  itself,  but  since  that  date  only  a  few 
travelers  have  penetrated  the  country,  and  scarcely  any  of  these 
have  reached  Lhasa.  The  chief  resources  of  Tibet  are  probably 
its  untouched  wealth  of  gold  and  other  minerals.  Its  total  trade 
has  been  insignificant,  that  with  India  scarcely  amounting  to  a 
half  million  dollars  annually. 

The  first  Englishman  to  enter  Tibet  was  George  Bogle,  who 
was  sent  by  Warren  Hastings,  in  1774,  to  the  Tashi  Lama  at 
Shigatse.     He  was  well  received,  but  Samuel  Turner  met  with  less 

1  It  seems  desirable  to  give  a  somewhat  fuller  statement  than  is  possible  in 
the  History  of  India  concerning  Tibet  and  the  circumstances  which  led  to  the 
sending  of  the  Younghusband  mission. — Editor,  June  26,  1906. 

377 


378  THE     OPENING     OF     TIBET 

success  in  1783,  and  after  his  expedition  the  Tibetans  began  the 
policy  of  rigorously  guarding  their  southern  frontier  against  pass- 
age by  foreigners.  Thomas  Manning,  the  Chinese  scholar  and 
the  friend  of  Charles  Lamb,  visited  Lhasa  in  181 1,  being  the  only 
Englishman  to  enter  that  city  before  1904.  Later,  two  French 
Lazarist  missionaries,  Hue  and  Gabet,  reached  Lhasa  in  1846,  be- 
ing the  last  Europeans  to  visit  that  city  prior  to  1904.  The  most 
notable  of  the  later  explorers  of  Tibet  have  been  the  Russian 
Nikolai  Mikhailovitch  Przhevalski,  the  American  William  Wood- 
ville  Rockhill,  and  the  Swede  Sven  Anders  Hedin.  Most  im- 
portant in  some  ways  were  the  two  journeys  of  a  native  of  India, 
Sarat  Chandra  Das,  who  visited  Lhasa  in  1883,  and  made  exten- 
sive and  valuable  reports  to  the 'Indian  government. 

Since  the  days  of  Warren  Hastings,  and  until  recently,  the 
interests  of  the  English  in  India  have  touched  those  of  Tibet  only 
incidentally.  The  relations  of  the  English  in  the  Pamirs,  in  Kash- 
mir, in  Nepal,  in  Bhutan,  and  especially  in  Sikkim,  have  brought 
the  English  and  Tibetans  into  a  series  of  relations  which  have 
made  a  neighborly  understanding  necessary,  especially  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Russian  activity  in  central  Asia.  Over  the  series  of  Hima- 
layan border  states,  the  Dalai  Lama  claimed  a  certain  suzerainty, 
which  amounted  to  little  more  than  occasional  payments  of  tribute 
at  Lhasa  and  Peking.  Some  references  to  the  history  of  these 
various  states  and  of  their  relations  with  the  British  have  been 
made  in  the  history  of  India,  and  here  attention  will  be  confined 
to  Sikkim,  as  the  little  country  through  which  the  main  route  to 
Tibet  passes,  and  in  which  have  occurred  clashes  between  the 
English  and  the  Tibetans.  By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  with  Sikkim 
in  1861,  the  construction  of  a  road  from  Darjiling,  now  the  rail 
head,  to  the  Jelap-la — "  the  lovely  level " — Pass,  the  most  prac- 
ticable of  the  passes  into  Tibet,  was  permitted.  Nothing  else  worthy 
of  note  occurred  until  1886,  when  England  arranged  to  send  Colman 
Macaulay  on  a  mission  to  Tibet.  China  agreed  to  assist  the  mis- 
sion, which  had  gathered  at  Darjiling  ready  to  start  when  it  be- 
came apparent  that  the  Tibetans  would  refuse  to  receive  it,  and  so, 
at  China's  urgent  request,  it  was  countermanded.  This  affair 
showed  the  British  that,  in  spite  of  all  assurances,  China  and 
Tibet  were  playing  off  one  against  the  other  for  the  direct  purpose 
of  keeping  the  British  out  of  Tibet.  The  countermanding  of  the 
Macaulay  mission  was  followed  by  a  Tibetan  invasion  of  Sikkim. 


THE     OPENING     OF     TIBET  379 

In  1888  an  expedition  under  Colonel  Thomas  Graham  repulsed 
the  invasion  and  occupied  Chumbi,  the  little  valley  beyond  the 
Jelap-la  wedged  in  between  Bhutan  and  Sikkim.  These  troubles 
were  terminated  by  the  visit  of  one  of  the  Chinese  ambans  to 
Calcutta  and  the  signature  of  a  treaty  on  March  17,  1890,  defin- 
ing the  Sikkim  frontier  as  the  Himalayan  watershed,  and  renounc- 
ing all  Chinese  or  Tibetan  claims  on  Sikkim.  Other  articles  of 
the  treaty  provided  for  a  joint  commission  to  arrange  the  details 
of  commercial  intercourse  between  Tibet  and  India,  and  to  adjust 
certain  other  matters.  Although  a  supplementary  agreement  was 
signed  in  1893,  repeated  British  efforts  failed  to  secure  the  execu- 
tion of  the  various  articles  of  the  treaty.  This,  with  the  new  prob- 
lems which  arose,  made  it  essential  that  the  British  should  secure 
a  clear  definition  of  their  relations  with  Tibet.  In  1902  the  govern- 
ment of  India  gladly  accepted  a  suggestion  of  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment to  effect  a  settlement  of  the  Indo-Tibetan  questions,  and 
it  was  agreed  that  an  English  agent  should  meet  Chinese  and 
Tibetan  representatives  at  Khamba-jong,  on  the  Tibetan  side  of  the 
frontier.  In  accordance  with  this  agreement,  the  English  mission, 
headed  by  Major  Younghusband,  arrived  at  Khamba-jong  in 
July,  1903. 

In  the  meanwhile,  events  had  occurred  which  made  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Tibetan  question  not  simply  desirable,  but  an  urgent 
necessity.  Ever  since  the  settlement  of  the  Afghan  frontier  ques- 
tions, Russia  had  quietly  but  persistently  pushed  her  designs 
against  the  feudatory  provinces  of  the  Chinese  empire,  and  under 
the  cover  of  the  Boxer  rising  in  1900  seemed  about  to  accomplish 
her  purposes.  Her  success  in  Manchuria  seemed  complete  until 
Japan  interposed.  Of  Russia's  doings  in  Mongolia,  eastern  Turkes- 
tan, and  Tibet  much  less  is  known,  but  of  her  activity  and  of  the 
general  nature  of  her  designs  there  is  little  doubt.  Apparently 
Russia  intended  to  reserve  these  vast  regions,  together  with  Man- 
churia, as  her  sphere  of  influence  in  China.  To  prosecute  her 
designs  in  Tibet  Russia  worked  through  the  Buriats,  who  live 
in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Baikal  and  who  were  spiritual  subjects  of 
the  Dalai  Lama.  The  central  figure  in  these  schemes  was  the 
Buriat  Dorjiev,  who  appeared  under  various  names.  Dorjiev  had 
gone  to  Lhasa  in  early  life  and  entered  the  Bebung  Monastery,  and 
had  risen  to  a  position  of  some  importance  therein.  After  many 
years  he  was  sent  among  his  own  people  in  1898  to  collect  con- 


380  THE     OPENING     OF    TIBET 

tributions  for  the  Lhasan  hierarchy.  It  was  during  this  visit  that 
he  was  discovered  by  the  Russian  authorities  and  at  once  induced 
to  become  a  Russian  agent  at  Lhasa.  On  his  return  to  Lhasa,  he 
had  little  trouble  in  winning  the  Dalai  Lama  to  his  schemes,  but  he 
found  that  the  rest  of  the  hierarchy  were  stubbornly  opposed  to  all 
such  outside  intervention  and  influence.  Nevertheless,  Dorjiev 
and  the  Dalai  Lama  were  able  to  go  far.  Dorjiev  bore  presents 
from  the  Dalai  Lama  to  the  tsar  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  on  his 
return  brought  presents  of  no  less  significance  from  the  tsar  to  the 
Dalai  Lama,  and  an  agreement,  not  a  formal  treaty,  between  the  tsar 
and  the  Dalai  Lama.  The  Chinese  amban  protested  at  these  doings 
and  opposed  Dorjiev  at  every  step,  as  did  also  the  Lhasan  hierarchy 
in  general.  It  was  about  December,  1901,  when  Dorjiev  returned 
to  Lhasa  with  the  tsar's  presents  and  the  proposed  agreement. 
From  that  time  onward  he  and  the  Dalai  Lama  worked  in  full 
accord  to  promote  the  Russian  interests  to  the  direct  despite  of 
both  China  and  England,  and  in  face  of  the  determined  opposition 
of  the  great  monasteries  to  all  dealings  with  the  foreigners.  Rus- 
sian arms  were  imported  into  Tibet  and  other  measures  of  a 
similar  sort  prosecuted.  Dorjiev  even  boasted  that  in  the  spring 
of  1903  Cossacks  would  be  in  Lhasa.  It  was  these  facts  which 
made  the  Younghusband  mission  and  its  success  a  necessity  for  the 
government  of  India.  The  history  of  this  mission  and  its  results 
have  been  recorded  in  the  main  part  of  this  volume,  and  all  of 
these  events  seem  to  make  it  clear  that  the  British  policy  in  Tibet 
must  at  least  for  a  long  time  be  carried  out  on  lines  closely  analogous 
to  her  Afghan  policy,  though  there  are  some  important  differences. 
As  no  British  agent  is  maintained  at  Kabul,  so  none  will  be  sta- 
tioned at  Lhasa.  No  railroads  or  other  modern  means  of  com- 
munication will  be  introduced.  England  will  not  intervene  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  either  country  and  she  will  not  allow  any  other 
power  to  acquire  any  interest  whatsoever  in  Afghanistan  or  Tibet. 
The  analogy  breaks  down  at  some  points,  as  in  the  matter  of 
commerce,  and  also  because  of  the  ecclesiastical  situation  in  Tibet 
and  because  of  the  Chinese  suzerainty  over  the  country. 

Economically  Tibet  can  never  have  any  important  relations 
with  Russia.  Tibet's  trade  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  with 
India,  or  with  that  part  of  China  in  which  England  is  commer- 
cially supreme.  Geographical  conditions  make  intercourse  between 
Tibet  and  India  very  much  simpler  than  with  any  actual  or  pos- 


THE     OPENING     OF     TIBET  381 

sible  Russian  territory  to  the  west  or  north,  so  that  not  only  com- 
mercially, but  also  strategically,  England,  and  not  Russia,  is  most 
interested  in  the  fate  of  Tibet.  England's  interest  in  Tibet  is  a 
double  one,  for  her  commercial  position  in  China,  as  well  as  her 
empire  in  India,  must  be  safeguarded.  England  must  have  the 
open  door  in  China  as  the  simplest  method  of  maintaining  her 
commercial  supremacy  there,  and  to  make  it  secure  and  of  effective 
value  she  must  prevent  Russia  from  tampering  with  the  back 
door  of  China,  for  a  Russian  position  on  the  upper  Yangtse-Kiang 
would  be  a  perpetual  menace  to  England's  commerce  in  that  valley. 
Russia  is  not  now  prepared  to  meet  England  in  an  economic 
struggle,  but  she  might  hope  to  reserve  for  herself  a  vast  central 
Asian  empire  from  which  England  and  other  powers  should  now 
be  excluded  in  order  that  Russia  may  exploit  it  in  the  future. 

The  religious  question  is  not  less  important  than  the  com- 
mercial. The  Dalai  Lama  as  Buddhist  pope  has  some  Russian 
subjects  in  Siberia  and  his  alliance  would  be  invaluable  to  Russia 
in  the  prosecution  of  her  designs  upon  the  Chinese  empire.  Eng- 
land has  nearly  ten  million  Buddhist  subjects,  chiefly  in  Burma, 
and  to  her  Buddhist  influence  is  also  important,  owing  to  the 
large  Buddhist  population  of  her  ally  Japan,  and  of  that  part  of 
China  which  interests  England  most.  Both  for  the  sake  of  sub- 
jects and  allies,  and  for  imperial  and  economic  reasons,  England 
must  deal  just  as  delicately  with  Buddhist  susceptibilities  as  with 
Mohammedan. 

Not  only  native  susceptibilities,  but  also  native  prejudices  and 
fancies,  must  be  considered.  Asiatics  only  respect  a  power  that 
compels  respect.  Had  England  failed  to  take  up  the  Sikkim  and 
Tibet  business,  and  clear  it  up,  she  would  have  lost  prestige,  not 
only  in  India,  but  throughout  the  East  for  having  submitted  to 
being  snubbed.  Having  taken  up  the  Tibetan  question  England 
must  now  see  the  thing  through,  cost  what  it  may.  Fortunately, 
Lord  Curzon's  policy,  which  has  proved  so  successful  on  the  north- 
west frontier,  seems  to  be  thoroughly  fitted  for  the  Tibetan  fron- 
tier as  well,  that  is,  the  defense  of  the  frontier  and  of  all  Indian 
interests,  the  maintenance  of  friendly  relations  with  the  neighboring 
country  and  non-interference  in  its  internal  affairs,  and  the  exclu- 
sion from  the  buffer  state  of  all  foreign  influence.  Tibet  is  not 
an  impossible  field  for  military  operations,  but  is  an  exceedingly 
impracticable  one,  the  more  so  toward  the  north  than  in  the  south, 


382  THE     OPENING     OF     TIBET 

so  that  it  is  more  important  for  England  to  exclude  Russian  di- 
plomacy and  arms  from  Tibet  than  it  is  for  Russia  to  exclude 
England. 

The  commercial  clauses  of  the  Tibetan  treaty  will  give  India 
easy  access  to  Tibetan  markets,  and  a  practical  monopoly  of  them, 
for  India  can  supply  everything  Tibet  needs  more  promptly  and 
cheaply  than  even  China,  for  the  transport  distance  from  India 
is  only  one-fifth,  or  even  one-tenth,  that  from  China.  This  will 
above  all  affect  the  trade  in  tea,  which  Tibet  now  obtains  entirely 
from  China,  whereas  India  could  furnish  a  better  grade  much 
more  easily  and  therefore  more  cheaply.  The  commercial  privi- 
leges of  India  in  Tibet  under  the  treaty  will  make  desirable  the 
establishment  of  good  roads  as  trade  routes.  The  political  and 
the  possible  military  considerations  also  dictate  a  policy  of  road 
building  to  the  most  practicable  passes  into  Tibet,  and  as  far  be- 
yond the  frontier  as  possible. 

In  regard  to  the  question  of  the  integrity  of  China,  England 
may  extend  her  influence  effectively  over  Tibet  without  in  any  wise 
offending  the  United  States  and  the  other  powers  which  desire  to 
guarantee  the  integrity  of  China,  but,  even  were  it  not  so,  it  would 
be  open  to  England  to  say  that  the  principle  of  the  integrity  of 
China  is  intended  to  apply  only  to  China  proper,  and  not  to  the 
tributary  states  of  the  empire.  Neither  is  the  policy  of  the  open 
door  really  affected.  No  doubt  the  United  States  will  be  able  to 
send  goods  into  the  Tibetan  markets  as  she  did  into  Manchuria. 
Americans  will  also  be  interested  in  Tibet  from  a  missionary  stand- 
point. For  years  the  missionary  societies,  Catholic  and  Protestant, 
have  looked  forward  to  the  opening  of  Tibet,  and  will  be  ready 
at  the  earliest  possible  moment  to  work  their  way  in,  both  from 
India  and  from  China.  Already  missionaries  have  studied  the 
Tibetan  language  and  a  Moravian  has  published  a  Tibetan  gram- 
mar and  a  dictionary. 


The  Currency   Question   in   India 

DURING  the  eighteenth  century  and  following  the  breakup 
of  the  old  Mogul  empire,  there  were  a  large  number  of 
different  native  coinage  systems  existing  in  India,  some 
of  great,  some  of  trifling  importance.  There  were,  also,  some 
European  and  other  non-Indian  coins  in  circulation.  When  the 
East  India  Company  began  to  coin  money,  it  adapted  its  system 
to  native,  and  not  to  British,  standards.  In  Bengal  the  Company 
noticed  that  the  rupee  most  in  circulation  was  that  of  the  nine- 
teenth year  of  the  reigning  Mogul  emperor,  and,  accordingly,  from 
1793  to  1818,  rupees  of  that  type,  and  bearing  that  date,  were 
coined  by  the  Company  in  Bengal.  These  rupees,  known  as  siccas, 
that  is  sikka  rupees,  literally  newly-coined  rupees,  weighed  179.666 
grains,  having  175.923  grains  of  pure  silver.  In  1818  the  weight 
was  changed  to  191. 916  grains,  and  in  1833  tne  amount  of  pure 
silver  was  changed  to  176  grains.  These  various  siccas  were  su- 
perseded in  1835  and  ceased  to  be  legal  tender  on  January  1,  1838. 
Beginning  in  1835  the  Company  coined  for  all  of  its  Indian  pos- 
sessions rupees  weighing  180  grains  and  containing  165  grains 
of  pure  silver.  To  find  the  value  of  a  sum  of  siccas  in  the  new  or 
Company's  rupees,  add  one-fifteenth  of  the  sum.  In  1835  there 
were  found  to  be  in  circulation  in  India  rupees  of  300  different 
coinages.  As  intercourse  was  slow  between  England  and  India 
until  that  time,  and  as  the  commercial  transactions  were  almost 
entirely  in  the  Company's  hands,  questions  of  exchange  were  of 
comparatively  small  importance.  Down  to  1835  a  rupee  may  be 
roughly  reckoned  as  equivalent  to  an  average  of  2.7  pence,  or 
55  cents. 

From  1835  to  1893  the  nominal  value  of  the  rupee  was  24 
pence,  or  50  cents.  For  exact  comparison  the  rupee  weighed  180 
grains,  of  which  165  were  pure  silver;  the  English  florin  of  24 
pence  weights  174.535  grains,  of  which  161.445  are  Pure  silver;  and 
the  American  50-cent  piece  weighs  192.9  grains,  of  which  173.61 
are  pure  silver.  Since  the  rupee  was  the  practical  equivalent  of 
the  florin  and  hence  to  be  reckoned  at  ten  to  the  pound  sterling, 

383 


CURRENCY    IN     INDIA 

the  custom  arose  of  keeping  accounts  not  in  sums  of  rupees  (e.  g., 
rs.  555,000),  but  in  tens  of  rupees,  which  was  equivalent  to  pounds 
sterling  (e.  g.,  rx.  55,500,  or  55,500/.).  The  Indian  method  of 
numerating  rupees  is  rs.  44,33,22,111,  which  would  be  read  44 
crores,  33  lakhs,  22,111  rupees.  From  1835  to  1873  tne  exchange 
value,  now  become  a  matter  of  commercial  and  financial  im- 
portance, fluctuated  around  the  nominal  value  of  24  pence  to  the 
rupee.  The  highest  average  rate  for  any  one  year  was  26.035 
pence  in  1 860-1 861,  and  the  lowest,  21.094  in  1848- 1849.  During 
twenty- four  of  the  thirty-six  years  from  1837- 1838  to  x 872- 1873 
the  rate  was  between  23  pence  and  25  pence. 

The  formation  of  the  Latin  Union  for  coinage  by  most  of  the 
countries  of  southern  Europe  in  1865,  the  coinage  legislation  of 
the  new  German  empire  in  1873,  and  of  the  United  States  in  the 
same  year,  were  events  with  a  temporal,  if  not  a  causal,  relation 
to  the  decline  in  the  price  of  silver,  which  began  about  1873.  Later 
important  events  in  the  history  of  the  silver  question  were  the 
Bland  Silver  Act  of  1878  and  the  Sherman  Silver  Purchase  Act 
of  1890  in  the  United  States,  and  the  fruitless  meeting  of  the  In- 
ternational Monetary  Conference  at  Brussels  in  1892.  The  effect 
of  these  last  two  events  would  seem  to  be  reflected  in  the  rate  of 
exchange:  in  1889-1890  the  rupee  averaged  16.566  pence;  in  1890- 
1891,  18.089  pence;  in  1891-1892,  16.733  pence;  and  in  1892- 
1893,  14.985  pence.  Both  the  United  States  and  India,  the  two 
countries  most  affected  by  the  silver  question,  were  forced  to  take 
prompt  measures.  The  United  States  repealed  the  purchasing 
clause  of  the  Sherman  Act  on  November  1,  1893;  while  in  India 
a  royal  commission  to  inquire  into  the  financial  situation,  which  had 
been  appointed  before  the  Brussels  Conference,  made  its  report 
on  May  31,  1893,  and,  on  June  26,  its  recommendations  were 
enacted  as  law.  This  Coinage  Act  provided  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  rupee  at  the  fixed  value  of  16  pence  (32.4  cents),  for  the 
use  of  English  gold  coins  in  India  at  the  legal  rate  of  15  rupees 
to  the  pound  sterling,  and  for  the  closing  of  the  Indian  mints  to  the 
free  coinage  of  silver.  The  makeshift  character  of  this  legislation 
was  shown  almost  at  the  moment  by  the  provision  made  by  the 
government  of  India  to  pay  a  depreciation  allowance,  in  addition 
to  the  nominal  salaries.  The  rate  of  exchange  also  exposed  the 
futility  of  the  measures,  for  in  1894- 1895  tne  rupee  was  only  worth 
13.101  pence.     Further,  it  seems  that  the  closing  of  the  Indian 


CURRENCY     IN     INDIA  385 

mints  to  silver  was  followed  by  the  emission  of  a  large  amount  of 
counterfeit  rupees,  which,  however,  were  of  correct  weight,  fineness, 
and  die,  and  so  could  not  be  detected. 

The  failure  of  the  legislation  of  1893  led  to  the  appointment 
of  a  second  Royal  Commission  to  inquire  into  the  Indian  finances 
in  1895.  Legislation,  based  upon  its  report,  was  enacted  on  Sep- 
tember 15,  1899.  The  English  sovereign  was  made  a  legal  tender 
in  India  and  the  Indian  mints  were  opened  to  the  free  coinage  of 
gold.  Previous  to  this  time  the  government  had  recognized  no 
gold  coin  minted  in  India  as  a  legal  tender,  though  from  1835 
onward  the  Company  had  coined  mohurs,  valued  at  15  rupees,  as 
the  ratio  existed  in  1835.  &  mav  De  added  that  notes,  ranging 
in  value  from  5  rupees  to  10,000  rupees,  are  in  circulation  in  India, 
under  the  legislation  drawn  up  by  James  Wilson,  the  finance  mem- 
ber of  Lord  Canning's  council. 

In  conclusion  it  should  be  said  that  the  silver  question  was  not 
a  purely  Indian  question,  but  a  question  of  world  finance,  and  its 
development  and  settlement  have  been  the  result,  not  so  much  of 
legislation,  as  of  the  relative  size  of  the  world's  accumulation  of 
gold  and  silver,  and  the  amount  of  annual  production  of  each  metal. 
The  opening  of  the  new  and  extensive  gold  fields  of  the  Transvaal 
and  the  Klondike  have  had  an  important  effect  on  the .  situation. 
The  action  of  India,  in  adopting  the  gold  standard,  was  practically 
followed  by  the  United  States  by  the  Act  of  March  14,  1900; 
and  other  nations  and  colonies  took  similar  action  at  about  the 
same  time,  so  that  now  nearly  every  country  of  importance  is 
on  the  gold  basis.  Under  these  conditions,  the  legislation  of  1899 
has  proven  successful,  and  will,  no  doubt,  continue  to  do  so. 

The  following  table  of  the  Indian  currency  gives  the  present 
legal  English  equivalents,  and  the  approximate  American  equiva- 
lents • 

3  pie        =  1  pice    =     1  farthing  =  i  cent 

4  pice      =  1  anna   =     1  penny      =  2  cents. 
16  annas   =  I  rupee  =  16  pence      =  32.4  cents. 
15  rupees  =  1  pound  =    1  pound     =  $4.83% 


Famines    of    India 

THE  primary  cause  of  famine  in  India  is  the  failure  of  the 
monsoons  and  the  consequent  failure  of  the  crops,  either 
partially  or  totally,  over  a  larger  or  smaller  area.  The 
secondary  and  contributing  causes  of  the  suffering  produced  by 
the  famine  are  numerous  and  complicated.  Undoubtedly,  the  de- 
nudation of  the  forest  lands  has  affected  the  rainfall  and  the 
consequent  area  of  productive  soil.  Antiquated,  inefficient,  and 
wasteful  methods  of  tillage  are  in  some  measure  responsible.  A 
factor  of  prime  importance  is  the  complex  social  and  economic 
status  which  has  produced  an  overcrowding  of  population  in  the 
cultivated  districts,  while  a  large  portion  of  the  cultivable  land  of 
India  remains  unredeemed  from  the  jungle.  This  is  a  double  evil, 
for  not  only  is  much  tillable  land  left  unproductive,  but  the  popu- 
lation dependent  upon  any  one  district  of  cultivated  land  is  so 
great  that  the  slightest  shortage  of  crops  results  in  scarcity  of  food. 
The  construction  of  extensive  irrigation  works  in  recent  years  has 
both  increased  the  cultivated  area  and  insured  a  more  reliable  water 
supply  for  a  large  area  where  the  rains  may  fail.  The  government 
is  wisely  giving  full  attention  to  this  method  of  insurance  against 
famine. 

The  population  of  India  is  increasing  rapidly,  the  more  so 
since  British  rule  has  put  a  complete  stop  to  the  wars  which  once 
devastated  India,  and  also  to  brigandage,  widow-burning,  in- 
fanticide (especially  of  females),  and  other  conditions  and  customs 
which  were  destructive  of  life.  To  the  changed  social  and  eco- 
nomic conditions  created  by  British  rule  the  people  are  very  slow 
in  adapting  themselves.  Eighty  per  cent,  of  the  people  of  India 
still  depend  upon  agriculture  for  their  livelihood,  so  that  in  time 
of  drought  they  are  thrown  out  of  work  and  have  no  other  means 
available  of  earning  their  support,  except  as  the  government  opens 
relief  works. 

The  land  systems  vary  greatly  in  the  different  parts  of  India, 
so  that  the  agrarian  question  is  a  very  complex  one,  and  the  gov- 
ernment has  not  yet  succeeded  in  effecting  a  just  and  equitable 
settlement  of  the  problems  in  all  the  different  provinces.     As  a 

386 


FAMINES     OF     INDIA  387 

large  part  of  the  revenue  is  drawn  from  the  land,  the  question  of 
the  adjustment  of  the  burden  of  taxation  has  an  intimate  rela- 
tion with  the  conditions  which  produce  famine,  though  it  is  a 
curiously  absurd  piece  of  special  pleading  to  charge  the  cause  of 
famine  suffering,  entirely  or  even  to  a  considerable  degree,  to 
over-taxation,  or  to  inequality  of  assessment.  Until  recently  the 
money  lenders  have  been  able  to  fleece  the  needy  agriculturists,  un- 
hampered by  any  checks,  but  within  the  last  few  years  the  gov- 
ernment has  attempted  to  place  a  limit  upon  their  exactions,  and 
has  considered  establishing  a  system  of  land  banks.  The  correct 
adjustment  of  the  land  revenues  and  the  land  laws  should  be 
supplemented  by  measures  encouraging  migration  and  the  open- 
ing up  of  the  untilled  lands. 

Famines  have  ceased  to  exist  in  Europe,  wherever  railroad  and 
steamer  communication  has  been  opened,  and  it  has  naturally  been 
expected  that  a  similar  result  would  follow  in  India,  and  for  that 
reason  enormous  sums  have  been  spent,  especially,  in  developing 
the  railway  system.  The  Orissa  famine  owed  its  disastrous  re- 
sults to  the  lack  of  the  means  for  transporting  the  surplus  stores  of 
the  neighboring  provinces  to  the  sufferers.  The  extension  of  the 
railway  system  has  really  resulted  in  decreasing  the  acuteness  of 
the  famine  in  any  one  locality,  but  it  has  at  the  same  time  resulted 
in  increasing  the  scarcity  area,  because  it  has  given  the  grain 
merchants  the  ability  to  control  prices  so  that  famine  prices  in  one 
locality  lead  naturally  to  higher  and  even  to  scarcity  prices  in 
the  adjoining  districts.  Obviously  a  law  fixing  maximum  prices 
cannot  be  enforced  in  India,  and  least  of  all  by  an  English  govern- 
ment. The  opening  of  easy  means  of  communication  does  not 
solve  the  problem,  even  though  food  supplies  at  normal  prices 
were  introduced,  because  of  the  habits  of  the  people.  In  whole 
districts-  the  people  are  rice  eaters  and  might  starve  to  death  with 
carloads  of  wheat  standing  beside  them,  because  of  ignorance  of 
methods  of  preparation  of  the  food,  or  even  from  prejudice  against 
the  unknown  article.  Other  districts  depend  upon  wheat,  or 
millet,  as  the  staple  of  life,  and  to  them  rice  is  equally  useless,  until 
they  are  taught  its  value  and  how  to  use  it.  Naturally  a  large 
portion  of  the  famine  mortality  is  among  the  infants  and  small 
children.  Famines,  also,  are  responsible  for  retarding  the  birth 
rate.  The  stringency  of  the  caste  system  and  the  customs  requiring 
the  seclusion  of  women  prevent  the  highest  efficiency  in  any  sys- 


388  FAMINES     OF     INDIA 

tern  of  relief.  Flood,  pestilence,  and  other  calamities  may  alsa 
contribute  to  cause  famine  suffering. 

No  doubt  there  was  also  some  justice  in  the  statement  that 
the  famines  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  money 
famines,  rather  than  food  famines,  for  certainly  the  currency  ques- 
tion, which  perplexed  the  government  down  until  1899,  did  affect 
trade  conditions,  and  required  increased  taxation  so  that  the  masses 
of  the  people  were  not  in  the  most  favorable  position  to  weather 
the  period  of  scarcity.  The  "  hard  times  "  which  pinched  the  Amer- 
ican people  in  the  years  following  1893  starved  the  people  of  India. 
So  deep  is  the  poverty  of  India  that  40,000,000  of  its  population 
never  have  enough  to  eat. 

The  frontier  policy  pursued  by  the  Indian  government  from 
Lord  Lytton's  administration  through  Lord  Elgin's  laid  unduly 
heavy  burdens  upon  the  taxpayers  of  India,  and,  while  the  result 
of  this  policy  will  probably  be  the  improvement  of  India's  con- 
dition as  well  as  of  its  political  position,  it  is  certainly  no  injustice 
to  say  that  this  policy  was  in  some  degree  responsible  for  the  famine 
suffering  since  Lord  Lytton's  time.  From  a  European  stand- 
point, India  is  not  overtaxed,  for  in  British  India  the  taxes  amount 
to  about  80  cents  a  head  annually,  while  the  national  government 
in  the  United  States  costs  annually  more  than  $5.00  for  each  in- 
dividual, and,  when  the  cost  of  state  and  local  government  is  added, 
it  amounts  to  $15.00  a  head.  Against  this  fact,  however,  must 
be  placed  a  comparison  of  the  per  capita  wealth  and  the  per  capita 
incomes  of  the  people  of  India  and  those  of  other  countries,  and 
then  it  appears  clearly  that  India  is  supporting  a  government  ex- 
pensive out  of  proportion  to  the  wealth  of  the  population.  In 
justice  it  should  be  remembered  that  neither  heavy  taxation  nor 
the  famines  are,  to  any  serious  extent,  the  result  of  wrong  govern- 
mental policies,  but  are  the  result  of  a  combination  of  physical, 
social,  and  economic  conditions,  which  the  government  is  honestly 
endeavoring  to  remedy  and  which  no  government  could  possibly 
correct  except  after  the  lapse  of  a  long  period.  In  other  words, 
India  is  suffering  because  she  could  not,  on  the  instant,  be  trans- 
formed from  an  Asiatic  state  and  people,  to  a  European  basis  of 
civilization  and  life. 

The  fatality  of  famines  is  also  largely  increased  by  cholera 
and  other  diseases,  which  the  weakened  famine  sufferers  are  unable 
to  withstand.     The  drought  frequently  kills  off  the  work-cattle,  so 


FAMINES     OF     INDIA  389 

that  there  are  no  draught  animals  available  for  transporting  food 
away  from  the  railway  during  the  famine,  or  to  assist  in  tilling  the 
soil  when  the  rains  come  again.  This  was  especially  true  during 
the  1 899- 1 900  famine. 

In  1883  the  so-called  famine  code  was  promulgated,  and,  after 
the  1897  famine,  a  commission  in  1898  revised  the  local  famine 
codes.  The  management  of  the  relief  work  was  more  successful 
and  satisfactory  in  the  1897  and  1900  famines  than  ever  before. 
Not  counting  periods  of  scarcity,  there  have  been  twenty-two  seri- 
ous famines  in  India  since  1770,  ten  of  these  since  1858,  and  they 
have  cost  probably  15,000,000  lives. 

In  order  to  relieve  the  sufferers  from  the  famines,  the  vic- 
tims are  gathered  in  relief  camps  at  places  to  which  supplies  may 
be  easily  transported,  and  all  who  are  able  to  work  are  employed 
on  relief  works,  formerly  mostly  railroads,  now  chiefly  irrigation 
works,  so  that  in  fighting  a  famine  measures  are  taken  to  prevent 
its  recurrence.  The  laborers  on  the  relief  works  are  paid  in  money, 
a  minimum  rate  which  enables  the  individual  to  buy  enough  food 
for  himself  and  those  dependent  upon  him.  The  government  not 
only  helps  the  victim  while  the  famine  lasts,  but  helps  to  put  him 
on  his  feet  again  when  it  is  over,  by  furnishing  him  work-cattle, 
implements,  and  seed,  and  even  by  making  loans.  The  relief  work 
of  the  government  is  supplemented  by  private  charity,  especially  by 
the  missionaries  who  devote  especial  care  to  the  friendless  orphans. 
This  is,  incidentally,  excellent  policy  for  the  missionaries,  for  over 
these  children  they  have  unhampered  control  and  readily  make  con- 
verts of  them  when  they  reach  mature  age. 

The  system  of  famine  insurance,  introduced  under  Lord  Lyt- 
ton,  was  excellent  in  theory.  It  was  estimated  that  the  cost  of 
famines  to  the  government  of  India  averaged  about  1,500,000/. 
annually.  It  was,  therefore,  planned  to  raise  that  amount  annually 
by  taxation,  over  and  above  the  ordinary  revenue.  This  was  to 
make  the  fat  years  pay  for  the  lean  ones.  The  sum  was  regularly 
raised,  but  frequently  diverted  to  uses  that  required  a  wild  im- 
agination to  describe  as  famine  relief,  or  famine  insurance  meas- 
ures. In  the  long  run  the  matter  has  squared  itself,  owing  to  the 
enormous  cost  of  such  famines  as  those  of  1897  and  1900.  Still 
it  was  an  unwise  policy  to  raise  a  fixed  annual  sum  for  famine 
insurance  and  to  spend  it  for  objects  that  are  not  clearly  relief  or 
insurance  measures. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


This  bibliography  makes  no  pretense  of  giving  a  complete  list  of  even  the 
best  books,  nor  does  the  presence  of  a  title  in  this  list  necessarily  imply  that  it  is 
better  than  any  similar  book  on  the  subject.  The  best  bibliographical  aid  for  the 
student  of  India  and  its  history  is  the  "  Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  the  India 
Office,"  of  which  volume  i  is  devoted  to  the  books  in  English  (London,  1888; 
with  "Index,"  London,  1888;  and  "Supplement,"  London,  1895).  Many  of  the 
books  mentioned  in  this  list  furnish  much  valuable  bibliographical  material. 

The  most  important  of  the  general  histories  of  India  are:  J.  C.  Marshman: 
"  History  of  India  from  the  Earliest  Period  to  the  Close  of  Lord  Dalhousie's 
Administration"  (London,  1867-1870,  3  vols.)  ;  H.  G.  Keene:  "History  of  India 
from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Present  Day"  (London,  1893,  2  vols.);  while 
mention  may  also  be  made  of  J.  T.  Wheeler :  "  Short  History  of  India  "  (Lon- 
don, 1880)  ;  H.  Beveridge :  "  Comprehensive  History  of  India,  Civil,  Military, 
and  Social"  (London,  1862,  3  vols.)  ;  and  L.  J.  Trotter:  "History  of  India  from 
the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Present  Day"  (third  edition,  London,  1899). 

For  the  period  prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans  in  India,  the  following 
are  valuable:  S.  Lefmann:  "  Geschichte  des  alten  Indiens"  (Berlin,  1890),  and 
U.  Miiller:  "  Der  Islam  im  Morgen-  und  Abendland,"  volume  2  (Berlin,  1887)  ; 
both  of  which  are  in  Oncken's  "  Allgemeine  Geschichte  in  Einseldarstellungen" ; 
R.  C  Dutt:  "History  of  Civilization  in  Ancient  India  based  on  Sanskrit  Litera- 
ture" (Calcutta,  1889- 1890,  3  vols.);  and  "Ancient  India,  2000  B.C. — 800  a.d.  " 
(London,  1893);  V.  A.  Smith:  "Early  History  of  India  from  6oo~  ?.c.  to  the 
Mohammedan  Conquest,  including  the  Invasion  of  Alexander  the  Great" 
(Oxford,  1904)  ;  and  J.  T.  Wheeler:  "History  of  India  from  the  Earliest  Ages" 
(London,  1874- 1876,  4  vols.). 

For  the  student  there  is  abundant  material  on  the  early  history  of  the 
British  in  India,  but  special  mention  should  be  made  of  the  calendars  and  reports 
on  records  prepared  by  W.  N.  Sainsbury,  F.  C.  Danvers,  and  Sir  G.  C.  M. 
Birdwood.  For  the  general  reader,  Sir  W.  W.  Hunter :  "  History  of  British 
India"  (London,  1899- 1900,  2  vols.)  replaces  all  other  books  for  the  period 
down  to  1708,  and  the  student  will  find  it  an  invaluable  aid.  Sir  A.  C.  Lyall: 
"Rise  of  the  British  Dominion  in  India"  (New  York,  1893),  is  the  best  brief 
account,  though  R.  W.  Frazer:  "British  India"  ("Story  of  the  Nations" 
series,  London,  1896),  is  more  complete.  The  standard  work  on  the  British  in 
India  is  J.  Mill :  "  History  of  British  India "  (London,  1817,  3  vols.,  of  which 
the  later  editions  were  edited  by  H.  H.  Wilson  with  notes  and  continua-ion,  the 
sixth  edition  appearing  in  10  volumes  in  London  in  1872).  E.  P.  Thornton: 
"History  of  the  British  Empire  in  India"  (London,  1841-1845,  6  vols.),  is 
worthy  of  mention,  though  distinctly  favorable  to  the  East  India  Company. 

On  the  later  history  of  the  British  in  India  see  M.  Townsend  and  G.  Smith : 
"Annals  of  Indian  Administration,  1856-1875"  (Serampore  and  Calcutta); 
L.  J.  Trotter:  "  History  of  India  under  Queen  Victoria  from  1836  to  1880"  (Lon- 
don, 1886,  2  vols.);  D.  C.  Boulger:  "India  in  the  Nineteenth  Century"  (Lon- 
don,   1901) ;   R.    C.   Dutt:    "Economic  History   of   British   India,    1757-1837" 

393 


394  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

London,  1902),  and  "India  in  the  Victorian  Age,  Economic  History  of  the 
People"  (London,  1904). 

For  the  military  history  of  the  British  in  India,  the  following  are  among  the 
most  important  general  works :  A.  Broome :  "  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress 
of  the  Bengal  Army "  (only  volume  I  published,  London,  1850)  ;  P.  R.  Inness : 
"  History  of  the  Bengal  European  Regiment,  now  the  Royal  Munster  Fusiliers  " 
(2d  edition,  London,  1885)  ;  E.  Buckle :  "  Memoir  of  the  Services  of  the  Bengal 
Artillery,"  edited  by  J.  W.  Kaye  (London,  1852);  W.  J.  Wilson:  "History  of 
the  Madras  Army"  (Madras,  1882-1889,  4  vols,  and  atlas);  J.  G.  S.  Neill : 
"Historical  Record  of  the  Madras  European  Regiment"  (1843);  and  H.  M. 
Vibart :  "  Military  History  of  the  Madras  Engineers  and  Pioneers  from  1743 
up  to  the  Present  Time"  (London,  1881-1883,  2  vols.).  For  the  Indian  navy 
see  C.  R.  Low:  "History  of  the  Indian  Navy,  1613-1863"  (London,  1877,  2  vols.). 

The  "  Dictionary  of  National  Biography "  contains  sketches  of  all  important 
Anglo-Indians  deceased  prior  to  1901,  while  the  "  Rulers  of  India  "  series,  edited 
by  Sir  W.  W.  Hunter,  in  28  volumes,  gives  excellent  accounts  of  the  most  famous 
rulers  of  India,  ending  with  the  Earl  of  Mayo.  See,  also,  Sir  J.  W.  Kaye: 
"  Lives  of  Indian  Officers,  Illustrative  of  the  Civil  and  Military  Services  of 
India"  (London,  1867,  2  vols.);  G.  Smith:  "Twelve  Indian  Statesmen"  (2d 
edition,  London,  1898)  ;  and  C.  E.  Buckland :  "  Dictionary  of  Indian  Biography  " 
(London,  1905). 

The  history  of  Christianity  in  India  will  be  found  in  J.  Hough :  "  History 
of  Christianity  in  India  from  the  Commencement  of  the  Christian  Era  "  (London, 
1839-1845,  4  vols.),  and  G.  Smith:  "Conversion  of  India  from  Pantsenus  to  the 
Present  Time,  a.d.  193-1893  "  (London,  1894)  ;  while  a  discussion  of  the  present 
situation,  with  a  full  bibliography,  will  be  found  in  H.  P.  Beach :  "  India  and 
Christian  Opportunity"  (New  York,  1904). 

R.  W.  Frazer:  "Literary  History  of  India"  (New  York,  1898),  may  be 
consulted  in  addition  to  works  cited  elsewhere.  The  following  glossaries  are 
useful :  H.  H.  Wilson :  "  Glossary  of  Judicial  and  Revenue  Terms  and  of 
Useful  Words  occurring  in  Official  Documents  relating  to  the  Administration 
of  the  Government  of  British  India"  (London,  1855),  and  G.  Temple:  "Glossary 
of  Indian  Terms  relating  to  Religion,  Customs,  Government,  Land,  and  Other 
Terms  and  Words  in  Common  Use"  (London,  1897). 

On  the  government  of  India,  a  useful  handbook  is  Sir  W.  Lee- Warner: 
"  Citizen  of  India "  (London,  1900)  ;  and  the  best  recent  books  are  Sir  G. 
Chesney :  "  Indian  Polity,  a  View  of  the  System  of  Administration  in  India "  (3d 
edition,  London,  1894)  ;  Sir  Courtenay  Ilbert:  "Government  of  India"  (Oxford, 
1898)  ;  T.  Morison :  "  Imperial  Rule  in  India,  being  an  Examination  of  the 
Principles  Proper  to  the  Government  of  Dependencies"  (Westminster,  1899); 
and  Sir  J.  Strachey :  "  India,  its  Administration  and  Progress "  (3d  edition, 
London,  1903).  For  the  Indian  treaties,  see  Sir  C.  U.  Aitchison:  "Collection 
of  Treaties,  Engagements,  Sunnuds  .  .  .  relating  to  India  and  Neighboring 
Countries"  (2d  edition  revised  and  continued,  Calcutta,  1892,  n  vols.).  Sir  W. 
Lee- Warner:  "Protected  Princes  of  India"  (London,  1894);  W.  Stokes: 
"Anglo-Indian  Codes"  (Oxford,  1887-1891,  3  vols.)  ;  and  L.  C.  Probyn:  "Indian 
Coinage  and  Currency"  (London,  1897),  are  important  on  their  respective 
subjects.  For  the  land  systems  and  allied  topics,  consult  B.  H.  Baden-Powell: 
"Land  Systems  of  British  India"  (Oxford,  1892,  3  vols.);  "Short  Account  of 
the  Land  Revenue  and  its  Administration  in  British  India"  (Oxford,  1894); 
and  "  Indian  Village  Community "  (London,  1896)  ;  and  A.  Rogers :  "  Land 
Revenue  of  Bombay,  a  History  of  its  Administration,  Rise  and  Progress" 
(London,  1893,  2  vols.). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Indian  problems  are  discussed  in  Sir  C.  W.  Dilke :  "  Problems  of  Greater 
Britain  "  (4th  edition,  London,  1890)  ;  C.  L.  Tupper :  "  Our  Indian  Protectorate  " 
(London,  1893)  ;  W.  S.  Lilly:  "British  India  and  its  Problem"  (London,  1902)  ; 
J.  O.  Hobbes  (Mrs.  P.  M.  T.  Craigie)  :  "  Imperial  India,  Letters  from  the 
East"  (London,  1903);  and  W.  Digby:  "Prosperous  British  India"  (London, 
1901),  which  is  a  vigorous  arraignment  of  the  British  administration  in  India. 
The  following  collections  of  essays  on  India  contain  much  of  interest  and  value: 
Sir  A.  C.  Lyall:  "Asiatic  Studies,  Religious  and  Social"  (London,  1882-1899,  2 
vols.)  ;  E.  W  Hopkins:  "India,  Old  and  New"  (New  York,  1901)  ;  Sir  W.  W. 
Hunter :  "  India  of  the  Queen  and  Other  Essays,"  edited  by  Lady  Hunter 
(London,  1903);  and  W.  Crooke:  "Things  Indian,  being  Discursive  Notes  on 
Various  Subjects  Connected  with  India"  (London,  1906). 

Compendious  and  descriptive  accounts  of  India  are  numerous,  but  the  fol- 
lowing may  be  noted :  R.  M.  Martin :  "  British  Colonies,  their  History,  Extent, 
Conditions  and  Resources,"  volume  5  (London,  1834)  ;  and  "  Indian  Empire " 
(1858-1861,  3  vols.);' Sir  W.  W.  Hunter:  "Indian  Empire,  its  Peoples,  History 
and  Products  "  (3d  edition,  London,  1893)  ;  Sir  R.  Temple :  "  Bird's-Eye  View  of 
Picturesque  India"  (London,  1808);  L.  E.  Guinness:  "Across  India  at  the 
Dawn  of  the  Twentieth  Century"  (London,  1898);  C.  H.  Forbes-Lindsay: 
"India,  Past  and  Present"  (Philadelphia,  1903,  2  vols.)  ;  G.  W.  Forrest:  "Cities 
of  India"  (New  York,  1903);  H.  Compton:  "Indian  Life  in  Town  and 
Country"  (New  York,  1904);  and  Sir  T.  H.  Holdich:  "India"  (London, 
1904). 

The  "  Statistical  Survey  of  British  India,"  in  128  volumes,  compiled  under 
the  general  direction  of  Sir  W.  W.  Hunter,  has  been  condensed  into  Sir  W.  W. 
Hunter:  "Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India"  (2d  edition,  London,  1885-1887,  14  vols.). 
A  third  edition  is  being  prepared  by  J.  S.  Cotton.  The  map  publishing  firm  of 
Johnston  have  brought  out  an  "  Atlas  of  India,"  containing  16  maps  and  com- 
plete index,  with  an  introduction  by  Sir  W.  W.  Hunter  (Edinburgh,  1894). 
Constable's  have  published  J.  G.  Bartholomew:  "Hand  Atlas  of  India"  (Lon- 
don, 1893),  and  "Hand  Gazetteer  of  India"  (London,  1898). 

Governmental  publications  by  both  the  home  and  the  local  authorities  are 
valuable,  such  as  the  parliamentary  papers,  the  reports  of  the  various  commis- 
sions of  inquiry,  the  annual  reports  of  various  officials  and  departments  of  the 
government,  the  census  reports,  and  such  annual  handbooks  as  the  "India  List 
and  India  Office  List,"  " Annual  Statement  of  the  Trade  of  British  India" 
"  Financial  Statement  of  the  Government  of  India,  with  Discussion  in  the  Legis- 
lative Council,"  "Judicial  and  Administrative  Statistics,"  "Agricultural  Statis- 
tics of  British  India,"  and  "Statistical  Abstract  of  British  India." 

Important  material  has  been  published  by  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  and  by 
the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal  (founded  in  1784),  and  in  the  Calcutta 
Review  (quarterly),  founded  in  1844. 

The  following  is  an  alphabetical  list  of  books  which  have  special  points  of 
merit : 

Beatson,  A. — "View  of  the  Origin  and  Conduct  of  the  War  against  Tippoo 
Sultaun."     London,   1897. 

An  excellent  history  of  the  Mysore  Wars. 
Bernier,  Frangois. — "  Travels."    London,  1891. 

Bernier  was  a  French  physician  who  resided  at  the  court  of  Aurangzeb  for 

several  years,  and  his  account  of  the  life  there  has  become  famous. 
Blacker,  V. — "  Memoirs  of  the  Operations  of  the  British  Army  in  India  during 
the  Maratha  War,  1817-1819."    London,  1821. 

Excellent  for  a  study  of  the  Pindari  War  and  the  last  Maratha  War. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bourchier,   G. — "Eight    Months'    Campaign    against   the    Bengal    Sepoy   Army 

during  the  Mutiny  of  1857."    London,  1858. 

The  most  important  of  the   contemporary   and   personal   accounts   of   the 

Mutiny. 

Bowring,   L.   W. — "Haidar  Ali   and  Tipu   Sultan,  and   the   Struggle  with  the 

Mussulman  Powers  of  the  South."  ("  Rulers  of  India  "  series.)     Oxford, 

1893. 
Contains  a  good  account  of  the  siege  of  Seringapatam  and  of  the  previous 

campaign. 
Bradshaw,  J. — "  Sir  Thomas  Munro  and  the  British  Settlement  of  the  Madras 
Presidency."  ("Rulers  of  India"  series.)     Oxford,  1894. 
A  good  description  of  the  rayatwari  system  of  assessment  and  collection  for 
the  land  revenue  in  the  Madras  presidency. 
Buhler,  J.  G.,  and  Kielhorn,  F. — "  Grundriss  der  indo-arischen  philologie  und 
altertums-kunde."     Strassburg,  1896 — in  progress. 
This  is  a  valuable  collection  of  monographs  in  English  and  German.    Writ- 
ten by  the  most  competent  scholars  of  the  day. 
Busteed,  H.  E. — "  Echoes  from  Old  Calcutta."    3d  edition.    Calcutta,  1897. 

Recognized  for  its  excellent  account  of  the  Black  Hole  episode  in  the  light 
of  recent  investigations. 
Cambridge,  R.  O. — "  Account  of  the  War  in  India  between  the  English  and  the 
French  on  the  coast  of  Coromandel,  1750-1760."    London,  1761. 
A  good  account  of  the  part  Indian  territory  played  in  the  great  Hundred 
Years'  War. 
Camoens,  Luiz  de. — "  Os  Lusiadas,"    Lisbon,  1572. 

This  is  the  epic   of  the   Portuguese   in   India.     There  are  many   English 
translations,  of  which  that  of  Sir  R.  F.  Burton  is  the  best. 
Cheyney,  Edward  Potts. — "  European  Background  of  American  History,   1300- 
1600"  (Vol.  I  of  "The  American  Nation,  a  History").    New  York,  1904. 
The  fullest  and  best  recent  account  of  the  commerce  of  India  and  of  Euro- 
pean knowledge  of  India,  prior  to  1500. 
Childers,  Robert  Caesar. — "  Dictionary  of  the  Pali  Language."    London,  1872. 

The  article  on  Buddha  is  particularly  good. 
Colquhoun,  J.   A.   S. — "With  the   Kurram   Field   Force,    1878- 1879."     London, 
1881. 
A  personal  account  of  the  Second  Afghan  War. 
Colvin,  Sir  Auckland. — "  John  Russell  Colvin,  the  last  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  Northwest  under  the  Company."    ("Rulers  of  India"  series.)     Ox- 
ford, 1895. 
Contains  an  able  discussion  of  Lord  Auckland's  administration  in  India. 
Creighton,  J.  N. — "  Narrative  of  the  Siege  and  Capture  of  Bhurtfore."    London, 
1830. 
This  is  the  primary  authority  on  the  capture  of  Bhartpur. 
Day,  C. — "  Policy  and  Administration  of  the  Dutch  in  Java."     New  York,  1904. 
To  the  enquirer  concerning  the  Dutch  in  India,  this  book  will  prove  of  as 
much  service  as  its  name  indicates,  and  is,  besides,  the  best  book  on  that 
subject  in  the  English  language. 
Danvers,  F.  C. — "  Report  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  India  in  Council  on  the 
Portuguese  Records  relating  to  the  East  Indies  at  Lisbon  and  Evora." 
London,  1892. 
Indispensable  to  the  scholar. 
- — "History  of  the  Portuguese  in  India."  London,  1894.    2  vols. 
This  is  the  standard  work  in  English  on  this  subject. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  397 

Dirom,  A. — "  Narration  of  the  Campaign  in  India  which  terminated  the  War 
with  Tippoo  Sultan  in  1792."    London,  1793. 
Certain  to  be  interesting  to  all,  because  it  is  written  by  a  contemporary. 
Douglas,  G.,  Duke  of  Argyll. — "  Eastern  Question  from  the  Treaty  of  Paris, 
1856,  to  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  1878,  and  to  the  Second  Afghan  War."    Lon- 
don, 1879.     2  vols. 
An  excellent  treatment  of  the  Second  Afghan  War. 
Dubois,  J.   A. — "  Hindu   Manners,  Customs,   and   Ceremonies,"  translated   from 
the  Author's  later  French  manuscript  and  edited  by  H.   K.   Beauchamp. 
Oxford,  1897.    2  vols. 
Based  on  local  observations  in  southern  India  at  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. 
Duff,  J.  G. — "  History  of  the  Marathas."    London,  1826,  reprinted  Bombay,  1863. 
3  vols. 
This  has  a  distinct  value  to  the  student  of  native  Indian  history. 
Durand,    Sir   H.    M. — "Life   of   Major   General    Sir   Henry   Marion   Durand." 
London,  1883.    2  vols. 
Valuable,  because  Durand  was  for  a  time  private  secretary  to  Lord  Ellen- 
borough  while  he  was  governor-general  of  India. 
Elliot,  Sir  Henry  Miers. — "  History  of  India  as  told  by  its  own  Historians,  the 
Mohammedan   Period,"  revised  and  continued  by  J.   Dowson.     London, 
1867- 1877.    8  vols. 
Indispensable  to  the  student. 
Elphinstone,  Mountstuart. — "  History  of  India,  the  Hindoo  and  Mohammedan 
Periods."  6th  edition.     London,  1874. 
This  is  still  valuable,  though  needing  some  corrections  in  the  light  of  later 
researches. 
Erskine,  W. — "History  of  India  under  the  two  first  Sovereigns  of  the  House 
of  Taimur,  Baber  and  Humayun."    London,  1854.    2  vols. 
A  scholarly  but  detailed  account. 
Fergusson,  James. — "  History  of  Architecture  in  All  Countries,  from  the  Earliest 
Times  to  the  Present  Day."    2d  edition.    London,  1874.    4  vols. 
Volume  IV.  is  devoted  to  India  and  China  and  is  exceedingly  entertaining. 
Ferishta,  M.  K. — "  History  of  the  Rise  of  the  Mohammedan  Power  in  India," 
translated  by  J.  Briggs.     London,  1829.     4  vols. 
The  author  is  a  native  authority. 
Garcin  de  Tassy,  Joseph  Heliodore  Sagesse  Vertu. — "  Les  auteurs  hindoustainis 
et  leurs  ouvrages."    2d  edition.    Paris,  1868,  and  "  Histoire  de  la  literature 
hindouie  et  hindoustanie."    2d  edition.    Paris,  1870-1871.    3  vols. 
Excellent  for  the  student  of  modern  Hindu  literature. 
Goblet  d'Alviella,  E. — "  Ce  que  flnde  doit  a  la  Grece."    Paris,  1897. 

Worth  consulting. 
Hamilton,  Alexander. — "New  Account  of  the  East  Indies."    London,  1727.    2d 
edition,  1744.    2  vols. 
The  personal  narrative  of  one  of  the  most  famous  interlopers. 
Hensman,  H. — "  Afghan  War  of  1879-1880."    London,  1881. 

This  is  the  best  account  of  the  Second  Afghan  War. 
Heyd,  W. — "Histoire  du  commerce  du  Levant  au  moyen  age."    Leipzig,  1885- 
1886.    2  vols. 
A  work  of  scholarly  research,  worthy  of  particular  mention. 
Holden,   Edward   Singleton. — "Mogul   Emperors   of   Hindustan."     New   York, 

1895. 
A  brief  but  popular  narrative. 


398  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Holdich,  Sir  Thomas.—"  India."   ("  Regions  of  the  World  "  series.)   Oxford,  1904. 

A  convenient  handbook. 
Holmes,  T.  R.— "  History  of  the  Indian  Mutiny."    5th  edition.     London,  1898. 

This  is  the  standard  history  on  this  subject. 
Holwell,  John  Z. — "  Indian  Tracts."    3d  edition.     London,  1774. 

Holwell,  who  was  in  charge  at  Calcutta,  was  one  of  the  survivors  of  the 
Black  Hole  episode,  and  his  "  narrative "  is  therefore  of  peculiar  interest. 
Hunter,  Sir  William  Wilson. — "  Annals  of  Rural  Bengal."    London,  1868.     Now 
in  its  seventh  edition. 
A   mass   of   interesting  facts   regarding  the  present   religious   practices   of 
peoples  in  certain  localities,  in  which  the  author  himself  was  an  observer. 

"  Orissa."     London,  1872.     2  vols. 

These  are  really  supplementary  volumes  to  his  "  Annals  of  Rural  Bengal." 
Irwin,  H.  C. — "  The  Garden  of  India,  or  Chapters  on  Oudh  History  and  Af- 
fairs."   London,  1880. 
Contains  a  good  account  of  the  annexation  of  Oudh. 
Jonge,  J.  K.  J.  de — "  De  Opkomst  van  het  Nederlandsch  Gesag  in  Oost-Indi'e." 
Amsterdam,  1864- 1883.     11  vols. 
Very  good  but  long,  and  there  is  no  English  translation  as  yet. 
Kaye,  Sir  J.  W.— "  History  of  the  Sepoy  War  in  India,  1857-1858."    5th  edition. 
London,  1870- 1877.     3  vols. 
The  most  comprehensive  work  on  this  subject. 
Klerk  de  Reus,  G.   C. — Geschichtlicher  Ueberblick  der  Administrativen,  recht- 
tichen    und    Unanziellen    Entwicklung    der    Niederlandisch-Oostindischen 
Compagnie."    The  Hague,  1894. 
An  excellent  example  of  Dutch  scholarship,  as  yet  untranslated  into  English. 
Lane-Poole,  Stanley. — "  History  of  the  Mogul  Emperors  of  Hindustan  illustrated 
by  their  Coins."    London,  1892. 
A  detailed,  scholarly  account. 
Laurie,  W.  F.  B. — "  Our  Burmese  Wars  and  Relations  with  Burma,  being  an 
Abstract  of  Military  and  Political  Operations,  1824-1826  and   1852-1853." 
London,  1880. 
An  excellent  account  of  the  Burmese  wars. 
Logan,  W. — "Malabar."     Madras,  1887. 

Valuable  for  its  account  of  that  coast. 
M'Crindle,  J.  W. — "  The  Invasion  of  India  by  Alexander  the  Great  as  described 
by  Arrian,  Q.  Curtius,  Diodorus,  Plutarch  and  Justin."    2d  edition,  West- 
minster, 1896 ;  "  Ancient  India  as  described  by  Megasthenes  and  Arrian," 
Bombay,  1877 ;  "  The  Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the  Erythrean  Sea," 
Bombay,  1879 ;  "  Ancient  India  as  described  by  Ktesias  the  Knidian,"  Bom- 
bay, 1882 ;  and  "  Ancient  India  as  described  by  Ptolemy,"  Bombay,  1885. 
Excellent  for  sources  and  critical  matter  concerning  ancient  India. 
Macdonnell,  A.  A. — "History  of  Sanskrit  Literature."     New  York,  1900. 

Furnishes  a  compendious  account  of  the  ancient  literature  of  India,  and 
gives   bibliographical   details   concerning   the   editions   of   various    Sanskrit 
writings,  as  well   as   citing  the  most  important  works   of   recent   oriental 
scholars. 
Mackenzie,   R.— "  Sketch  of  the  War  with  Tippoo   Sultaun."     Calcutta,    1793- 
1794.    2  vols. 
This  is  a  good  account  of  the  second  Mysore  War. 
Mahan,  Alfred  Thayer— "  Influence  of   Sea   Power   upon   History,    1660-1783." 
Boston,  1890. 
The  best  work  on  the  influence  of  maritime  activity. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  399 

Malcolm,  Sir  John. — "Life  of  Robert,  Lord  Give."    London,  1836.    3  vols. 

This  biography  was  written  by  one  whose  whole  life,  from  childhood  up, 
had  been  devoted  to  the  service  of  India  and  to  a  study  of  her  political, 
social,  and  commercial  conditions. 
Malleson,  George  Bruce — "History  of  the  Indian  Mutiny,  1857-1858."     London, 
1878- 1880.    3  vols. 
This  supplements  Kaye's  "  History  of  the  Sepoy  War  in  India." 

"  Decisive  Battles  of  India."    London,  1883. 

Excellent  for  detail  accounts  of  battles. 

"  History  of  the  French  in  India  from  the  founding  of  Pondichery  in  1674 

to  the  capture  of  that  place  in  1761."    2d  edition.    London,  1873. 
The  standard  work  on  the  French  in  India,  and  contains  full  bibliographical 
references. 

"  Final  French  Struggles  in  India  and  the  Indian  Seas."    London,  1878. 

Supplements  his  earlier  volume  on  the  French  in  India. 
Meinsma,  J.  J. — *  Geschiedenis  van  de  Nederlandsche  Oost-Indische  Besittingen." 
Delft,  1872. 
Brief  and  scholarly  but  in  Dutch. 
Muir,  John. — "  Original  Sanskrit  Texts  on  the  Origin  and  History  of  the  Peo- 
ple  of   India,   their   Religion   and   Institutions."     London,    1868-1873.     5 
vols. 
This  work  contains  translations  and  critical  annotations  of  many  of  the 
important  texts. 
Muller,  F.  Max. — "History  of  Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature."    2d  edition.    Lon- 
don, i860. 
This  has  not  been  excelled  nor  even  replaced  by  any  more  recent  work. 
'"Lecture  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion,  as  illustrated  by  the  Re- 
ligion of  India."    London,  1878. 
Very  interesting  and  valuable. 
Nelson,  J.  H. — "  View  of  the  Hindu  Law  as  administered  by  the  High  Court  of 
Judicature  at  Madras."    Madras,  1877. 
A  detailed  discussion  of  the  legal  aspects  of  caste  in  India. 
Oman,  J.  C. — "  Great  India  Epics,  the  Stories  of  the  Ramayana  and  the  Mahab- 
harata."    London,  1894. 
Presents  the  substance  of  the  two  great  epics. 
Orme,  Robert. — "  History  of  the  Military  Transactions  of  the  British  Nation  in 
Indostan  from  the  year  1745."    London,  1763-1778.    4th  edition.    London, 
1803.    2  vols. 
Written  by  one  who  was  actively  connected  with  the  practical  working  of 
British  policy  in  India,  and  is,  therefore,  authoritative. 
Ragozin,  Mme.  Zenaide  Alexelevna — "Vedic  India"   ("Story  of  the  Nations" 
series).    New  York,  1899. 
A  popular  narrative. 
Raynal,  Guillaume  Thomas  Francois. — "  Histoire  philosophique  et  politique  des 
etablissements   et   du   commerce   des   Europeens   dans   les   deux   Indes." 
Paris,  1770.     4  vols. 
Interesting,  but  not  entirely  reliable.    There  are  numerous  editions  both  in 
English  and  in  French. 
Reclus,  Jean  Jacques  filisee. — "  The  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants,"  edited  by  A.  H. 
Keane.     New  York,  1884. 
The  eighth  volume  is  devoted  to  India  and  Indo-China. 
Rhys-Davids,  T.  W. — "Buddhist  India"  ("  Story  of  the  Nations"  series).    New 
York,   1903 ;  "  Buddhism,  being  a  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Teachings  of 


400  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Guatama,  the  Buddha,"  2d  edition.  London,   1893;   and   "Buddhism,   its 
History  and  Literature."    New  York,  1896. 
These  are  all  valuable. 
Schrader,  O. — "  Reallexikon  der  indo-germanischen  altertumskunde ;  grundzuge 
einer  kultur  und  volkergeschichte  Alteuropas."    Strassburg,  1901. 
A  summary  of  the  results  of  the  investigations  concerning  the  life  of  the 
Indo-Europeans. 
Scott,   J.   G.    (pseudonym,    Shway   Yoe). — "The    Burman,   his   Life    and    No- 
tions."   2d  edition.     London,  1896.    2  vols. 
An  excellent  sketch  of  Burma. 
Sherring,  M.  A. — "Hindu  Tribes  and  Castes."     Calcutta,  1872-1881.     3  vols. 

A  good  general  account  of  the  caste  system. 
Sleeman,   Sir  W.  H. — "Journey  through  the  Kingdom  of   Oudh  in   1849  and 
1850."    London,  1858.    2  vols. 
The  annexation  of  Oudh  is  well  told. 
Smith,  T. — "Five  Years'   Residence  at  Nepaul,   1841-1845."     London,   1852.     2 
vols. 
Is  a  good  description  of  Nepal  and  should  be  read  in  connection  with  the 
Nepal  War  of  1814-1815. 
Steele,  A. — "  Summary  of  the  Law  and  Custom  of  Hindoo  Caste.;  within  the 
Dekhun  Provinces."    2d  edition.    London,  1868. 
An  excellent  account  of  the  legal  aspects  of  Indian  caste. 
Stephens,  H.  Morse. — "Albuquerque"     ("Rulers  of  Nations"  series).     Oxford, 

1893. 

A  good  history  of  the  Portuguese  in  India. 
Stewart,  C. — "  History  of  Bengal  from  the  first  Mohammedan  Invasion  until  the 
virtual  Conquest  of  that  Country  by  the  English,  a.d.  1757.    London,  1813. 

This,  though  old,  is  still  of  service. 
Thomson,  Mowbray. — "  Story  of  Cawnpore."     London,  1859. 

The  personal  narrative  of  one  of  the  four  survivors  of  the  massacre  of 

Cawnpur. 
Tod,  J. — "  Annals  and  Antiquities  of  Rajast'han,  or  the  central   and  western 
Rajpoot  States  of  India."  London,  1829-1832.    2  vols. 

A  good  local  history. 
Travernier,  Jean  Baptiste. — "  Travels."     London,   1889. 

This  is  a  record  of  the  knowledge  gained  by  a  Frenchman  who  made  several 

expeditions  to  Asia,  chiefly  for  business  purposes. 
Trevelyan,  Sir  G.  O. — "  Cawnpore."    London,  1865. 

This  is  an  excellent  account  of  the  mutiny  of  Cawnpur. 
Valentyn,  F. — "  Oud  en  Nieuw  Oost-Indien."    Dordrecht,  1724.    5  vols. 

Excellent,  but  in  Dutch. 
Vansittart,  Henry. — "  Narrative  of  the  Translations  in  Bengal  from  1760-1764." 
London,  1766. 

The  history  of  Bengal  during  his  own  governorship. 
Warburton,  Sir  R. — "Eighteen  Years  in  the  Khyber,  1879-1898."    London,  1900. 

Valuable  for  a  study  of  the  northwest  frontier  question. 
Waring,  E.  S.— "  History  of  the  Marathas."    London,  1810. 

Deals  directly  with  the  history  of  the  Marathas  and  has  a  special  value. 
Wheeler,   B.   I.—"  Alexander  the  Great"    ("Heroes  of  the   Nations"   series). 
New  York,  1900. 

Contains  an  excellent  narrative  of  Alexander's  invasion  of  India. 
Wilks,  M.— "  Historical  Sketches  of  the  South  of  India  in  an  attempt  to  trace 
the  History  of  Mysore."    London,  1810-1817.    3  vols. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  401 

The  account  of  the  Mysore  wars  and  especially  of  the  siege  of  Seringapatam 
is  excellent. 
Wilson,  J. — "  Indian  Caste."    London,  1877.    2  vols. 

A  good  general  account  of  the  caste  system. 
Yate,  A.  C. — "  England  and  Russia  Face  to   Face  in  Asia,  Travels  with  the 
Afghan  Boundary  Commission."    Edinburgh,  1887. 
An  excellent  history  of  the  Afghan  frontier  question. 
Younghusband,  G.  J. — "  Indian  Frontier  Warfare."     London,  1898. 

Valuable  for  the  Tirah  campaign. 
Yule,  Sir  Henry. — "  The  Book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo  the  Venetian,  concerning  the 
Kingdoms  and  Marvels  of  the  East,"  translated  and  edited  with  notes ; 
3d  edition  revised  throughout  in  the  light  of  recent  discoveries  by  Henri 
Cordier  of  Paris.    London,  1003.     2  vols. 
A  very  important  and  interesting  book. 

PERSIA 

Anderson,  T.  S. — "My  Wanderings  in  Persia."     London,  1880. 

Narrative  of  an   English  official  in   Persia.     Interesting  but   sketchy  and 

rather  unsympathetic. 
Bassett,  James. — "  Persia,  the  Land  of  the  Imaums."    New  York,  1886. 

Mr.  Bassett's  book  is  rather  better  than  the  average  narrative  of  Persian 

travels. 
Benjamin,  S.  G.  W. — "  Persia  and  the  Persians."     Boston,  1887. 

The  writer,  who  formerly  represented  the  United  States  in  Persia,  gives  an 

appreciative  picture  of  modern  Persian  life  and  customs,  with  a  valuable 

outline  of  Persian  law  and  government. 
"The  Story  of  Persia"  ("Story  of  the  Nations"  series).    New  York,  1903. 

As  the  title  indicates,  this  work  makes  no  pretense  to  be  more  than  a  sketch 

of  the  more  salient  points  in  Persian  history. 
Curzon,  George  Nathaniel. — "  Persia  and  the  Persian  Question."     London,  1891. 
2  vols. 

A  thoughtful  study  of  modern  Persia  by  an  eminent  authority  on  Eastern 

affairs.     It  is  written   from  an  English  standpoint,  and  the  author  has   a 

thesis  to  maintain. 
Frazer,  J.   B. — "  Historical   and  Descriptive   Account   of   Persia."     New   York, 
1836. 

This  book,  though  old  and  hardly  authoritative,  forms  a  good  handbook  for 

Persian  history. 
Malcolm,  Sir  John. — "  The  History  of  Persia."    2  vols.    London,  1815. 

A  work  which  has  become  a  classic.    The  early  legendary  history  of  Persia 

is  especially  well  illustrated.     Most  subsequent  English  histories  of  Persia 

are  based  on  Malcolm. 
Markham,  Clement. — "  History  of  Persia."     London,  1874. 

A  handy  compilation  of  Malcolm's  great  work,  corrected   in  the  light  of 

more  recent  investigation. 
Phelps,  M.  H. — "Life  and  Teachings  of  Abbas  Effendi  [Babism]."     New  York, 
1904. 

An  appreciative  and  careful  study  of  the  most  remarkable  religious  move- 
ment in  recent  Persian  history. 
Rawlinson,  George. — "  Russia  and  England  in  the  East."     London,  1875. 

Naturally  of  a  transitory  value,  for  history  has  been  made  rapidly  since  this 

sketch  was  written. 


402  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

"The  Sixth  Great  Oriental  Monarchy;  or,  The  Geography,  History,  and 

Antiquities  of  Parthia."     London,  1873. 
Valuable  for  its  discussion  of  Roman  domination  in  the  East.    The  old  idea 
of  the  universal  character  of  the  Roman  Empire  is  amply  disproved.     See 
note  under  Seventh  Great  Oriental  Monarchy. 

"  The  Seventh  Great  Oriental  Monarchy ;  or,  The  Geography,  History,  and 

Antiquities  of  the  Sassanian  or  New  Persian  Empire."    London,  1876. 
This  work,  written  by  an  eminent  archaeologist  and  historian,  stands  as  the 
most  authoritative  work  on  the  subject  in  English.     Rawlinson  has  happily 
combined    scholarly   treatment   with    a   vivid    and    interesting    style,    which 
makes  the  book  attractive  to  the  lay  reader  as  well  as  to  the  special  student. 

Stuart,  Donald. — "  The  Struggle  for  Persia."     London,  1902. 

Narrative  of  a  journey  from  Tabriz  to  Teheran,  with  some  discussion  of  the 
political  status  of  Persia.  Readable,  but  too  prejudiced  to  be  of  any  value 
to  the  student  of  Persian  conditions. 

Whigham,  H.  J. — "The  Persian  Problem."    London,  1903. 

A  useful  supplement  to  Lord  Curzon's  work.  Particular  attention  is  given 
to  English  interests  in  the  Persian  Gulf. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abbas  (I)  the  Great,  shah  of  Persia: 
reign  of,  343 

Abbas  II,  shah  of  Persia:  reign  of,  347 

Abbas  III,  shah  of  Persia:  reign  of,  351 

Abbas  Mirza:  his  campaign  against  the 
Georgians,  358 ;  defeated  by  the  Rus- 
sians, 359 

Abbasside  Dynasty:  condition  of  Persia 
under,  326 

Abbott,  James :  associated  with  the  Law- 
rences in  India,  223 

Abdul  Karim:  gives  lessons  in  Hindus- 
tani to  Queen  Victoria,  287 

Abdur  Rahman  Khan :  proclaimed 
amir  of  Afghanistan,  258;  death  of, 
287 

Abu  Bekr,  Mohammedan  kalif:  acces- 
sion of,  322 

Abul    Fazl:  sketch  of,  114 

Adams,  Major:  his  campaign  against 
Mir  Kasim,  187 

Addiscombe:  military  school  maintained 
at,  202 

Aden:   sketch  of,  18 

Adil    Shahi  Dynasty:  founded,   106 

Afghan,  Frontier  Commission:  appoint- 
ed (1884),  265 

Afghan  War,  256 

Agha  Mohammed,  shah  of  Persia:  re- 
volt of,  355;  reign  of,  356 

Agra:  captured  by  Lake,  201 

Ahmadabad:  labor  troubles  of,  78 

Ahmad  Khan,  Persian  ruler:  reign  of 
(1282-1284),  335 

Ahmad  Khan:  separates  Afghanistan 
from  Persia  (i747)>  354 

Ahmad  Shah  Durani:  invades  India, 
127;   sketch  of,  216 

Ahmadnagar:  captured  by  Wellesley, 
201 

Aitchison,     Sir     Charles     Umpherston: 


sketch  of,  203 ;  head  of  Civil  Service 

Inquiry  Commission,  267 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  Treaty  of    (1748),   179 
Ajit  Singh,  prince  of  Rajputana:  asserts 

his  independence  of  Mogul  empire, 

126 
Akbar  the  Great:   birth  of,   no;   reign 

of,  no 
Akbar,  son  of  Aurangzeb :  rebellion  of, 

122 
Ala-ad-din    Mohammed,    Persian    ruler: 

provokes  quarrel  with  the  Mongols, 

334 

Ala-ud-din,  king  of  Delhi :  career  of,  99 

Albert  Victor,  Prince  of  Wales:  visits 
India,  273 

Albuquerque,  Alfonso  de :  his  voyage  to 
India,  148;  made  viceroy  of  the  In- 
dies, 149 

Alexander  VI,  Pope :  issues  the  Bulls  of 
Demarcation,  146;  grants  bull  to 
king  in  Portugal,  giving  him  au- 
thority in  the  East,  148 

Alexander  the  Great,  king  of  Macedon : 
invades  India,  67 

Alexander,  Georgian  prince:  revolt  of, 
358 

Alexandria:  becomes  mart  of  Indian 
trade,  140 

Alexandria:  see  Uchh 

Ali,  Mohammedan  kalif:  reign  of,  326 

Ali   Murad,   shah   of   Persia :   reign   of, 

355 
Ali   Vardi,   nawab    of    Bengal :    defeats 

the     Bhonslas,     133;     usurps     the 

throne,  182 
Aligarh:  battle  of   (1803),  201 
Aliwal:  battle  of  (1846),  221 
Almeida,  Francisco  de :  made  viceroy  of 

the  Indies,  148 
Alp  Arslan  the  Conquering  Lion,  king 

of  Persia:  reign  of,  330 
Altamsh,  king  of  Delhi:  reign  of,  97 


405 


406 


INDEX 


Amboyna:  massacre  of  (1623),  154,  162; 

annexed  to  British  empire,  205 
Amherst,  William  Pitt  Amherst,  Baron: 

his  governor-generalship    of    India, 

209 
Amiens,  Treaty  of  (1802),  197 
Ampthill,      Arthur      Villiers      Russell, 

Baron:   acting   governor-general   of 

India,  302 
Amr    ben    Leis,    Mohammedan    ruler: 

reign  of,  328 
Amru    Ibn    al    Aasse,    (Amru    ben    al- 

Ass)  :   refuses  to  recognize  AH  as 

kalif,  326 
Andaman  Islands :  description  of,  17 
Antioch:  siege  of  (543  a.d.),  319 
Antiochus   (II)    Theos,  king  of  Syria: 

concludes  treaty  with  Asoka,  71 
Arcot:  siege  of  (1751),  180 
Ardashir  (Artaxerxes)   I,  king  of  Per- 
sia: founds  dynasty,  315 
Argaum:  battle  of  (1803),  136 
Arghun,  Persian  ruler:  reign  of,  335 
Artaxerxes :  see  Ardashir 
Aryans:  in  India,  36 
Ashraf,  Afghan  king:  reign  of,  350 
Asiatic    Trading    Company:    organized, 

174 

Aslanduz:  battle  of   (1810),  359 

Asoka,  king  of  Magadha:  accepts  Bud- 
dhism, 60;  concludes  treaty  with 
Antiochus  II,  71 

Assada:  founded,  164 

Assada  Merchants:  see  Courten's  Asso- 
ciation 

Assassins:  organization  of,  332 

Assaye:  battle  of  (1803),  136,  201 

Athaide,  Luis  de :  viceroy  of  the  Indies, 
151 

Atharva-Veda :  rise  of,  42 

Auckland,  George  Eden,  Earl  of:  his 
governor-generalship    of    India,    215 

Aungier,  Gerald:  governor  of  Bombay, 
167 

Auranzeb,  Mogul  emperor:  usurps 
throne,   120;   reign  of,   121 

Australia:  discovered,  154 

Avitabile,  General:  trains  the  Sikh 
army,  221 

Ayerst,  Lieutenant:  murder  of,  283 

Ayub  Khan:  at  war  with  the  British, 
258 

Azad  Khan:  reign  of,  355 


B 


Babar   the  Mogul:  invades  India,  109 
Babis,  The:  founded,  362 
Badajoz  Conference,   (1524),   146 
Baffin,  William :  searches  for  the  North- 
west Passage,  156 
Bagdad:  siege  of  (1733),  351 
Bahadur,     Mogul     emperor:     reign    of, 

125 
Bahadur,  Sayyid  Ammad  Khan :  founds 

the     Mohammedan     Anglo-Oriental 

College,  256 
Bahadur,   Sir  Jang:   assists  in  quelling 

Mutiny,  238 
Bahmani,  Kingdom  of:  rise  of,  105 
Baillie,  William :    defeated    by    Haidar 

AH,  193 
Bairam  Khan:  regency  of,  111 
Baird,  Sir  David:  his  campaign  against 

Napoleon,  197 
Bakhtiyar  Khilji:  conquests  of,  95 
Baj  i  Rao  I,  Maratha  peshwa :  reign  of, 

132 
Baji  Rao  II,  Maratha  peshwa:  reign  of, 

136;  leads  revolt  of  the  Marathas, 

208 
Balaji  Vishwanath:  made  peshwa,  132 
Balaji  Baji  Rao,  Maratha  peshwa:  reign 

of,  133 
Balban,  king  of  Delhi :  reign  of,  98 
Baluchistan:    establishes    peaceful    rela- 
tions with  the  British,  259 
Baluchistan,  British :  organized,  266 
Banda,  Sikh  leader:  fate  of,  126 
Bankipur      (Banky-bazaar)  :      founded, 

172;  siege  of  (i733)>  174 
Bantam:  captured  by  the  Dutch  (1682), 

167 
Barbour,  David  Miller:  finance  member 

of    the    governor-general's    council, 

274 
Barents,  William:  explorations  of,  154 
Barid  Shahi  Dynasty:  founded,  106 
Baring,    Evelyn,    Earl    Cromer:    sketch 

of,  260 
Baring,  Thomas  George,  Baron  North- 
brook:     see     Northbrook,     Thomas 
George  Baring,  Baron 
Barlow,  Sir  George  Hilaro:  his  gover- 
nor-generalship of  India,  204 
Bassein:      sacked     by     the     Marathas 
(1739),  152 


INDEX 


407 


Bassein,  Treaty  of  (1802),  136,  200 
Bayezid,     Persian     ruler:     defeated    by 

Timur,  338 
Bayley,   Sir  Steuart  Colvin :   sketch  of, 

262 
Bayley,    William    Butterworth :     acting 

governor-general  of  India,  212 
Baxar:  battle  of   (1764),  126,   128,  135, 

187 
Behar:  conquered  by  Bakhtiyar  Khilji, 

(1109),  95 

Belisarius :  his    campaigns    against    the 

Persians,  319 
Bengal :  separated  from  Madras,  165 
Bengal  Company  of  Embden :  organized, 

174 

Bengal  Rent  Act  (1885),  260 

Bengal  Tenancy  Act  (1859),  244; 
(1885),  244 

Bentinck,  Lord  William  Cavendish;  re- 
moved from  governorship  of  Mad- 
ras, 204;  governor-general  of  India, 
212 

Berlin,  Treaty  of  (1878),  256 

Bernard,  Sir  Charles  Edward :  sketch  of, 
264;  made  chief  commissioner  in 
Burma,  266 

Bethune,  Sir  Henry:  establishes  English 
influence  in  Persia,  360 

Better  Government  of  India,  Act  for  the 
(1858),  240 

Bhakta-Mala:  description  of,  80 

Bhartpur  (Bhurtpore)  :  sieges  of  (1805), 
201 ;  (1827),  212 

Bhils :  description  of,  28 

Bhilsa:  plundered  by  Ala-ud-din,  99 

Bhurtpore:  see  Bhartpur 

Bhutan  War,  247 

Bird,  George  Corrie:  his  campaign 
against  the  Waziris,  278 

Black  Hole  of  Calcutta:  story  of,  182 

Blood,  Bindon :  sketch  of,  279 

Bombay:  ceded  to  England,  164 

Boscawen,  Edward :  besieges  Pondi- 
cherri,  179 

Boughton,  Gabriel :  wins  concessions  for 
the  English  from  governor  of  Ben- 
gal, 164 

Braganza,  Constantino  de:  viceroy  of 
the  Indies,  151 

Brahma  Samaj :  rise  of,  87 

Brahmans :  rise  of,  43,  76 

Brahmaputra:  description  of,  8 


Brandis,     Dietrich :     father    of     Indian 

forestry,  7 
Brazil :  discovery  of,  147 
Brydon,  William :   survives    the    march 

from  Kabul,  218 
Bubonic   Plague:   sketch  of,  282 
Bucephala :  founded,  68 
Buddha:  rise  of,  56 
Buddhism:  in  India,  56;  in  Burma,  65, 

210 
Burma:  description  of,  16;  Buddhism  in, 

65;  sketch  of,  210 
Burmese  War,  First,  210 
Burmese  War,  Second,  226 
Burnes,   Sir  Alexander:  his  mission  to 

Afghanistan,   216;   assassination  of, 

217 
Bushire:   stormed    (1856),  363 
Bussorah:  founded,  322 
Buwayid  Dynasty:  reign  of,  328 


Cabot,   John:    searches   for   the   North- 
west Passage,  156 
Cabot,     Sebastian :     searches     for     the 

Northwest  Passage,  156 
Cabral,   Pedro   Alvares:   his   voyage   to 

India,  147 
Calcutta :  founded,  166 
Calcutta,  Black  Hole  of,  182 
Campbell,  Colin,   Baron  Clyde :   relieves 

Lucknow,     237;     his     campaign     in 

Oudh,  238 
Campbell,  Sir  George :  sketch  of,  252 
Canning,   Charles   John,   Earl   Canning: 

his    governor-generalship  of    India, 

230 
Catherine   II,   queen    of    Russia:    aids 

Georgia  against  Persia,  357 
Cape  Colony:  captured  by  the  English, 

197 

Carey,  William:  missionary  efforts  of, 
171 ;  professor  of  Sanskrit  in  Col- 
lege of  Fort  William,  202 

Cartwright,  Ralph:  opens  English  trade 
with   Bengal,   163 

Caste:  in  India,  43,  78 

Castro  Joao  de:  viceroy  of  the  Indies, 

iSi 
Cavagnari,  Pierre  Louis  Napoleon:  con- 
cludes   treaty    with    the    amir    of 
Afghanistan,  257 


408 


INDEX 


Cavendish,  Thomas :  circumnavigates 
the  globe,   157 

Cawnpur:  siege  of  (1857),  236 

Ceylon:  Buddhism  introduced,  61;  con- 
quered by  the  Dutch,  155;  made  a 
crown  colony,  197 

Chaitanya:  teachings  of,  85 

Chait  Singh,  raja  of  Benares:  rebellion 
of,  192 

Chalderan:  battle  of   (1514),  34* 

Chancellor,  Richard:  searches  for  the 
Northwest  Passage,  156 

Chandarnagar :  captured  by  Clive,  182 

Chand  Bibi,  queen  of  Ahmadnagar: 
frustrates  Akbar's  schemes  for 
southern  India,  113 

Chandra  Gupta,  king  of  Magadha:  his 
relations  with  the  Greeks,  69;  reign 
of,  70 

Chang-lo:  attack  on  (1904),  298 

Charaka:  fame  of,  48 

Charles  VI,  Holy  Roman  emperor: 
sends  expeditions  to  India,  172 

Charnock,  Job:  obliged  to  desert  factory 
at  Kasimbazar,  166 

Chaul:  battle  of  (1508),  148 

Chennapatam:  see  Madras 

Chera,  Kingdom  of:  description  of,  105 

Chesney,  George  Tomkyns :  his  plans 
for  frontier  defense,  269 

Child,  Sir  John:  governor  of  Bombay, 
167 

Child,  Sir  Josia:  controls  the  company 
in  London,  168 

Chilianwala:  battle  of  (1849),  226 

China:  Buddhism  becomes  the  state 
religion  of,  62 

Chinsurah :  siege  of  (1759),  155 

Chitral:  siege  of  (1895),  278 

Chitor:  siege  of  (1303),  99 

Chitu :  leads  Pindari  revolt,  208 

Choiseul  or  Choiseul-Amboise,  fetienne 
Francois,  Duke  of:  Louis  XV  in- 
trigues against  policy  of,  180 

Chola,  Kingdom  of:  description  of, 
10S 

Chosroes :  see  Khusru 

Clarke,  Sir  Alfred :  becomes  acting  gov- 
ernor-general of  India,  196 

Clive,  Robert,  Baron  Clive  of  Plassey: 
sketch  of,  179;  defends  Arcot,  180; 
captures  Calcutta,  182;  made  gov- 
ernor of  Bengal,  185;  second  gov- 
ernorship, 187 


Close,  Barry:  resident  in  Mysore  and 
Poona,  202 

Clyde,  Colin  Campbell,  Baron:  see 
Campbell,  Colin,  Baron  Clyde 

Coblom   (Covelong)  :  founded,  172 

Codes  of  Civil  and  Criminal  Procedure 
(1861),  244 

Colbert  de  Croissi,  Charles:  organizes 
the  French  East  India  Company, 
170 

Columbus,  Christopher:  attempts  to  dis- 
cover India,  145 

Colvin,  John  Russell:  secretary  to  Lord 
Auckland,  215 ;  his  services  in  In- 
dia, 223 

Colvin,  Sir  Auckland:  sketch  of,  261 

Combermere,  Stapleton  Cotton,  Vis- 
count: his  campaign  in  India,  212 

Company,  The :  see  United  Company  of 
Merchants  of  England  trading  to 
the  East  Indies,  The 

Company  of  the  Philippine  Islands, 
Royal :  organized,  171 

Company  of  Scotland  trading  to  Africa 
and  the  Indies,  The :  organized,  171 

Connaught,  Arthur  William  Patrick  Al- 
bert, Duke  of:  visits  India,  288 

Conti,  Nicolo:  visits  the  East,  141 

Coote,  Sir  Eyre :  at  battle  of  Wandi- 
wash,  180;  his  campaign  against 
Haidar  Ali,  193 

Coorg:  annexed  to  English  possessions 
in  India,  215 

Cornish,  Sir  Samuel:  captures  Manila 
(1762),  181 

Cornwallis,  Charles,  Lord:  governor- 
general  of  India,  195;  his  second 
governor-generalship,  204 

Cotton,  Sir  Henry:  attempts  to  present 
report  of  Indian  National  Congress, 

293 
Councils,    Buddhist:    the    first,    59;    the 

second,  60;  the  third,  60;  the  fourth, 

61 
Couper,  George  Ebenezer  Wilson :  sketch 

of,  263 
Court,    Colonel :    trains   the    Sikh   army, 

221 
Courten's     Association:     formed,     158; 

makes  settlements,  163;  founds  As- 

sada,  164 
Courten,  Sir  William:  founds  Courten's 

Association,  158 


INDEX 


409 


Covelong:  see  Coblom 

Covilham,  Pedra  da:  visits  India,  144 

Cowley,  Henry  Wellesley,  Baron:  lieu- 
tenant-governor of  the  Oudh  ces- 
sions, 202 

Cradock,  John,  Lord  Howden :  causes 
mutiny  at  Vellore,  204 

Cromer,  Evelyn  Baring,  Earl :  see  Bar- 
ing, Evelyn,  Earl  Cromer 

Cunha,  Nuno  da:  governor  of  the  In- 
dies, 150 

Currency  Question,  The,  383 

Curzon  of  Kedleston,  George  Nathaniel 
Curzon,  Baron:  his  governor-gen- 
eralship of  India,  279;  his  second 
governor-generalship  of  India,  302 


Dahse :  invade  India,  73 

Dalhousie,  James  Andrew  Brown  Ram- 
say, Earl  of :  his  governor-general- 
ship of  India,  222 

Daman:  captured  by  the  Portuguese,  151 

Damascus:  taken  by  the  Persians  (615 
A.D.),  320 

Damghan :  battle  of,  350 

Dane,  Sir  Louis :  his  mission  to  Kabul, 

295 

Dara:  death  of,  121 

Daras:  captured  by  the  Persians  (572 
A.D.),  319 

Davies,  Robert  Henry:  sketch  of,  252 

Davis,  John:  searches  for  the  North- 
west Passage,  156 

Dawkins,  Clinton  Edward:  finance 
member  of  the  governor-general's 
council,  274 

Day,  Francis:  founds  Fort  Saint 
George,  163 

Deane,  Sir  Harold  Arthur:  chief  com- 
missioner of  the  Northwest  Frontier 
Province,  286 

Deccan  Agricultural  Relief  Act  (1880), 
256 

Defense,  Treaty  of   (1619),  161 

Delhi :  captured  by  Mohammed  of  Ghor, 
95;  battle  of  (1398),  104;  adorned 
by  Shah  Jahan,  120;  sack  of  (1736), 
127;  battle  of  (1804),  136;  captured 
by  Lake,  201;  siege  of  (1857),  237 

Demarcation,  Bulls  of  (i493)>  146 


Denison,  Sir  William  Thomas:  becomes 

acting    governor-general    of    India, 

244 
Doegiri :    captured    by    Ala-ud-din,    99 ; 

captured  by  Malik  Kafur,  100 
Dorjiev:  Russian  agent  at  Lhasa,  298 
Dost  Mohammed:  sketch  of,  216;  at  war 

with  Persia,  361,  363;  death  of,  247 
Dhulip  Singh:  recognized  as  raja,  221 
Diaz,  Bartholomew:  rounds  the  Cape  of 

Good  Hope,  144 
Dig:  battle  of  (1804),  136 
Dilemite  Dynasty:  reign  of,  328 
Disraeli,   Benjamin,   Lord  Beaconsfield: 

his  Afghan  policy,  256 
Diu:  battles  of  (1509),  148;  (1546),  151; 

siege  of  (1538),  150 
Djala-ud-din,    Persian   ruler:    death   of, 

334 

Drake,  Sir  Francis:  circumnavigates 
the  globe,  156 

Draper,  Sir  William:  captures  Manila 
(1762),  181 

Duff,  Sir  Mountstuart  Elphinstone 
Grant:  sketch  of,  263 

Dtifferin,  Frederick  Temple  Hamilton- 
Temple-Blackwood,  Marquis  of:  his 
governor-generalship    of    India,    264 

Dufferin,  Lady:  her  efforts  in  behalf  of 
Indian  women,  268 

Dupleix,  Joseph  Francois:  sketch  of, 
178 

Durand,  Algernon  George  Arnold:  es- 
tablishes British  influence  north  of 
Kashmir,  278 

Durand,  Henry  Marion:  military  mem- 
ber of  the  governor-general's  coun- 
cil, 248 

Durand,  Sir  Henry  Mortimer:  negoti- 
ates treaty  with  the  amir  of  Afghan- 
istan, 277 

Dutch:  in  India,  154 


East     India     College :     established     at 

Haileybury,  202 
East  India  Company,  Danish:  founded, 

171 
East  India  Company,  Dutch:  organized, 

154 
East   India   Company,   English:    organ- 
ized,  158;   charter  renewed   (1813), 


410 


INDEX 


206;  (1833),  214;  (1853),  225; 
sketch  of,  239 

East  India  Company,  French:  estab- 
lished, 169 

East  India  Company,  Swedish:  organ- 
ized, 175 

Eden,  Sir  Ashley:  sketch  of,  203 

Eden,  Emily:  sketch  of,  215 

Eden,  George,  Baron  Auckland:  see 
Auckland,  George  Eden,  Earl  of 

Edinburgh,  Alfred  Ernest  Albert,  Duke 
of:  visits  India,  249 

Edmonstone,  Neil  Benjamin:  foreign 
secretary  for  Wellesley,  202 

Edward  VII,  king  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  and  emperor  of  India :  visits 
India,  253;  accession  of,  288 

Edwardes,  Herbert  Benjamin:  attempts 
to  prevent  outbreak  in  the  Punjab, 
225 

Egerton,  Robert  Eyles:  sketch  of,  263 

Elgin,  James  Bruce,  Earl  of:  his  gover- 
nor-generalship of  India,  244 

Elgin,  Victor  Alexander  Bruce,  Earl  of: 
his  governor-generalship  of  India, 
274 

Ellenborough,  Edward  Law,  Baron:  his 
governor-generalship  of  India,  218 

Elles,  Sir  Edmond  Roche:  sketch  of, 
279;  resigns  as  military  member  of 
council,  305 

Elliot,  Gilbert,  Earl  of  Minto :  appointed 
governor-general  of  India,  205 

Ellis,  Sir  Barrow  Helbert:  sketch  of, 
251;  negotiates  Treaty  of  Teheran, 
360 

Elphinstone,  Mountstuart:  envoy  to 
Afghanistan,  205;  his  mission  to 
Afghanistan,  216 

Elphinstone,  William  George  Keith : 
sketch  of,  218 

Erivan:  battle  of  (1800),  358  1 

Ettrick  of  Ettrick,  Francis  Napier, 
Baron:  see  Napier,  Francis,  Baron 
Ettrick  of  Ettrick 

Eugene  of  Savoy,  Prince:  sends  expedi- 
tion to  India,  172 


Family  Compact,  181 

Famines  of  India  (1896-1900),  284 

Famines  of  India,  286 


Fatehpur  Sikri :  battle  of  (1527),  109 
Fath  AH,  shah  of  Persia:  reign  of,  358 
Ferdousi   (Firdausi)  :  sketch  of,  93,  329 
Fergusson,  James :  sketch  .of,  263 
Firdausi :  see  Ferdousi 
Firinghis:  description  of,  153 
Firozshah :  battle  of  ( 1846) ,  221 
Firuz   Shah   Tughlak,   sultan   of  India: 

reign  of,  103 
Fitch,  Ralph:  visits  India,  157 
Fitzgerald,    Sir    William    Robert    Sey- 
mour Vesey:  sketch  of,  252 
Forde,  Francis :  his  campaign  in  south- 
ern India,  186 
Fort  Saint  David :  see  Tegnapatam 
Fort  Saint  George:  see  Madras 
Fort     William,     College     of:     founded, 

202 
Fox,  Charles  James :  introduces  a  new 

India  bill,  194 
Francis,  Philip:  his  opposition  to  Hast- 
ings, 189,  190 
Francis  Xavier,  Saint:  inaugurates  mis- 
sionary efforts  in  the  East,  151 
Frederick   the   Great,   king  of   Prussia; 
attempts  to  secure  Indian  trade  for 
Prussia,  174 
Frere,    Sir   Henry   Bartle   Edward :   his 
administration  of  Sind,  223 ;   intro- 
duces   adhesive    postage    stamp    in 
Sind,  224;  accompanies  Edward  VII 
in  his  visit  to  India,  253 
Frobisher,  Sir  Martin :  searches  for  the 

Northwest  Passage,  156 
Fuller,  J.  B. :  made  lieutenant-governor 
of  Eastern  Bengal  and  Assam,  303 


Gama,  Vasco  da:  his  voyages  to  India, 
138,  146,  148;  death  of,  149 

Gandamak,  Treaty  of  (1879),  257 

Ganges :  description  of,  8 

Ganges  Canal :  opened,  223 

Ganjeh:  battle  of  (1827),  359 

Gardiner,  Colonel :  trains  Sikh  army, 
221 

Gautama:  see  Buddha 

General  Society:  organized,  158 

Genghis  Khan:  invades  India,  97;  his 
conquests,  334 

Geok  Tepe:  siege  of  (1881),  367 


INDEX 


411 


George,     prince    of    Georgia:     resigns 

crown  to  Russia,  358 
George    Frederick,    Prince    of    Wales: 

visits  India,  309 
Getse:  invade  India,  73 
Gibbs,  James:  sketch  of,  262 
Gillespie,    Colonel:    suppresses    Vellore 

mutiny,  204 
Ghats :  description  of,  15 
Ghazan  Mahmud,   Persian  ruler:   reign 

of,  336 
Ghazni:  siege  of  (1839),  217 
Gheria:  battle  of  (1763),  187 
Ghiyas-ud-din  Tughlak,  sultan  of  India: 

founds  dynasty,  101 
Ghulan  Mohammed,  Prince:   sketch  of, 

200 
Ghurgin  Khan:  oppresses    the    Ghilzis, 

348 
Goa:     captured     by     the      Portuguese 

(1510),  149;  sieges  of  (1603),  152; 

(1639).  152 
Goddard,  Thomas:  in  the  first  Maratha 

War,  193 
Gokhah:   president  of   Indian   National 

Congress,  293 
Gokteik  Viaduct:  construction  of,  289 
Gonds:  description  of,  28 
Gordian,    emperor    of    Rome :     defeats 

Persians,  317 
Gough,  Sir  Hough :  his  services  in  the 

Opium    War,    213;     his    campaign 

against  the  Sikhs,  221 
Great      Indian      Peninsular     Railways: 

opened,  223 
Greeks:  in  India,  67 
Grey,  Sir  William:  sketch  of,  252 
Griffin,  Lepel  Henry:  political  agent  at 

Kabul,  258 
Gujarat:    conquered    by    Moguls,    113; 

battle  of  (1849),  226 
Gujarat,  Kingdom  of:  early  history  of, 

107 
Gulistan,  Treaty  of  (1813),  359 
Gupta  Dynasty,  74 
Gurkhas  War,  207 
Guru:  battle  of  (1904),  298 
Gualior:  siege  of  (1780),  193 

H 

Habibulla,  amir  of  Afghanistan:  acces- 
sion of,  287 


Haffkine,  Waldemar  Mordecai  Wolff: 
discoveries  of,  282 

Hafiz  (Lishan  ul  Ghaid)  :  sketch  of,  336 

Haidar  AH:  attempts  to  expel  English 
from  India,  193 

Haidarabad  (Patala)  :  founded,  69 

Haileybury:  East  Indian  College  estab- 
lished at,  202 

Hajji  Ibrahim:  treachery  of,  356 

Hajji  Mirza  Aghasi:  under  Russian  in- 
fluence, 360 

Halifax,  Charles  Wood,  Viscount:  see 
Wood,  Charles,  Viscount  Halifax 

Hardinge,  Sir  Henry:  his  governor-gen- 
eralship of  India,  219 

Harris,  George:  at  siege  of  Seringapa- 
tam,  200 

Harun  al  Raschid,  Mohammedan  kalif: 
reign  of,  326 

Hasan,  Uzum:  conquests  of,  339 

Hassan  ibn  as-.Sabbah :  sketch  of,  332 

Hastings,  Francis  Rawdon-Hastings, 
Marquis  of:  his  governorship  of  In- 
dia, 206 

Hastings,  Warren:  attempts  to  com- 
promise with  Mir  Kasim,  187;  made 
governor  of  India,  189;  impeach- 
ment of,  192 

Havelock,  Sir  Henry:  his  campaigns 
during  the  mutiny,  237 

Hawkins,  William :  envoy  to  the  court 
of  the  Great  Mogul,  160 

Heber,  Reginald,  Bishop  of  Calcutta, 
206 

Hedges,  Sir  William:  made  governor  of 
Bengal,  165 

Henry  VII,  king  of  England:  sends  out 
expedition  to  search  for  the  North- 
west Passage,  156 

Henry  the  Navigator,  Prince:  enter- 
prises of,  143 

Heraclius,  Byzantine  emperor:  his  wars 
in  the  East,  321 

Heraclius,  prince  of  Georgia:  reign  of, 
357 

Herat:  battle  of  (1585),  343;  sieges  of 
(1832),  360;  (1837),  216,  361 

Himalayas:  description  of,  5 

Himu:  at  battle  of  Panipat,  111 

Hinduism :  growth  of,  75 

Hiuen  Tsiang:  quoted  on  reign  of  Sila- 
ditza,  63;  quoted  on  the  court  and 
people  of  Valabhi,  74 


412 


INDEX 


Hodson,  William  Stephen  Raikes: 
sketch  of,  238 

Holkar,  Jaswant  Rao:  at  war  with  the 
English,  201 

Hope,  Sir  Theodore  Cracraft :  sketch  of, 
262 

Hormuz:  battle  of  (218  a.d.),  315 

Houtman,  Cornelius:  his  voyage  to  In- 
dia, 154 

Howden,  John  Cradock,  Lord:  see 
Cradock,  John,  Lord  Howden 

Hudson,  Henry :  searches  for  the  North- 
west Passage,  156 

Hudson,  Sir  John:  commands  Indian 
troops  in  Soudan  campaign,  259 

Hughes,  Admiral:  his  campaigns  in  In- 
dia, 194 

Hugh:  growth  of,  150 

Hulagu :  captures  Bagdad,  334 

Human  Sacrifice :  in  India,  81 

Humayun,  Mogul  emperor:  reign  of, 
no;  receives  aid  from  Tamasp  I  of 
Persia,  342 

Hume,  Allan  Octavian :  supports  the  In- 
dian National  Congress,  270 

Hunter,  Sir  William  Wilson :  directs  the 
Statistical  Survey  of  India,  250 

Husein,  shah  of  Persia:  reign  of,  347; 
death  of,  350 


Ibbetson,  Sir  Denzil  Jelf :  policy  of,  282 
Ibn-Batuta:  at  the  court  of  Mohammed 

Tughak,  141 
Ilbert,  Sir  Courtenay  Peregrine:  sketch 

of,  262 
Ilbert  Act  (1884),  261 
Imad  Shahi  Dynasty:  founded,  106 
Impey,  Sir  Elijah:  chief  justice  of  India, 

190 
Inayatulla  Khan:  visits  Calcutta,  295 
India,  History  of:  the  country,  3;  the 
people,  20;  the  non- Aryans,  25;  the 
Aryans,  36;  Buddhism,  56;  the 
Greeks  in  India,  67;  the  Scythic 
inroads,  72;  growth  of  Hinduism, 
75;  early  Mohammedan  conquerors, 
88;  the  Mogul  dynasty,  109;  the 
Marathas,  130;  early  European  set- 
tlements, 138;  growth  of  British 
power,    178;    the    consolidation    of 


British  India,  204;   the  Sepoy  Mu- 
tiny, 232;  under  the  British  crown, 
242 
Indian  Civil  Service  Act  (1861),  241 
Indian     Councils     Acts     (1861),     240; 

(1892),  271 
Indian  High  Courts  Act  (1861),  241 
Indian  National   Congress :    first    meet- 
ing of,  260;  sketch  of,  270,  293 
Indus,  The :  description  of,  8 
Islam  Shah,  governor  of  Bengal :  acces- 
sion of,  no 
Ismail,  Persian  ruler:  reign  of,  341 
Ismail  ibn  Ahmad,  Mohammedan  kalif : 

founds  Samanid  dynasty,  328 
Ispahan:     growth     of,     344;     siege     of 
(I7I7),  349 


Jafar  Khan:  see  Murshid  Kuli  Khan 
Jaffnapatam:    captured    by    the    Dutch 

(1658),  155 
Jahangir      (Salim),     Mogul     emperor: 

marriage  of,  112;  reign  of,  117 
Jai  Singh  I :  corrects  list  of  stars,  47 
Jai  Singh  II :  founds  the  city  of  Jaipur, 

.  47 
Jaipal,  chief  of  Lahore :  at  war  with  the 

Mohammedans,  91 
Jaipur:  founded  (1728),  47 
Jains,  The:  description  of,  65 
Jalalabad:  siege  of  (1841),  218 
Jalal-ud-din,  king  of  Delhi :  founds  dyn- 
asty, 98 
Jama  Masjid:  built,  120 
Jang,  Sir  Salar:  sketch  of,  235 
Java :  English  conquest  of,  205 
Jehlam:  battle  of  (327  B.C.),  67 
Jenkinson,  Anthony:  travels  of,  140;  his 

mission  to  Persia,  342 
Jerusalem :  taken  by  the  Persians   (615 

a.d.),  320 
Jhansi :  escheats  to  the  British  govern- 
ment, 229 
Johander  Shah:  reign  of,  125 
John  of  Monte  Corvino:   his  career  in 

the  East,  142 
Juafir,  shah  of  Persia :  reign  of,  355 
Juangs   (Patuas)  :  description  of,  29 
Julian   the  Apostate,  emperor  of  Rome: 
invades  Persia,  318 


INDEX 


413 


Jumeyd :  power  of,  340 

Jumna:  description  of,  8 

Jumna  Canal,  The  Old :  built,  104 


K 


Kabir:  teachings  of,  84 
Kadesia:  battle  of  (634  a.d.),  322 
Kafur,  Malik :  campaigns  of,   100 
Kai-Khatu,    Persian    ruler:    introduces 
paper  notes  into  Persia,  102;  reign 

of,  335 
Kalidasa,    father    of    Sanskrit    drama: 

sketch  of,  54 
Kalinjar:  siege  of  (1545),  no 
Kamal:  battle  of  (1738),  353 
Kandahar:     captured    by    the     Moguls 

(1594),  113;  battle  of  (1880),  258; 

siege  of  (1736-1737),  352 
Kandhs:  description  of,  31 
Kanishka,     Scythian     king:      summons 

the  Fourth  Council,  61 ;  reign  of,  72, 
Karim:  leads  Pindari  revolt,  208 
Karo-la:  battle  of  (1904),  298 
Kashmir:     conquered    by    the    Moguls 

(1587-1592),  113 
Kasim,    Mohammedan    ruler :    his    cam- 
paign in  India,  88 
Kaufmann,    Konstantin    Petrovitch:    his 

campaign  in  Khiva,  256 
Keigwin,  Richard:  leads  insurrection  in 

Bombay,  167 
Kelly,  James  Graves:  his  campaign  for 

the  relief  of  Chitral,  278 
Kerbela:  siege  of  (1843),  361 
Kerim   Khan,   Kurdish   chieftain:   reign 

of,  355 
Khaibar  Rifles:  organized,  281 
Khalar     Mirza:     flies     before     English 

forces,  364 
Khalid:  leads  invasion  of  Persia,  322 
Khan,  Amir:   leads   Pindari  revolt,  208 
Khilji  Dynasty:  rules  Delhi,  98 
Khusru,  king  of  Ghazni :  defeated,  94 
Khusru   (I)    Anushirwan,  king  of  Per- 
sia: reign  of,  319 
Khusru    (II)     Parviz,   king   of    Persia: 

reign  of,  320 
Khusru    Khan :    usurps    the    throne    of 

Delhi,  101 
Kirkpatrick,  James  Achilles :  resident  at 

Haidarabad,  202 


Kirkpatrick,  William:  military  secretary 

for  Wellesley,  202 
Kirman:  siege  of   (1794),  356 
Kitchener,    Horatio    Herbert,    Viscount 

Kitchener :     commander-in-chief     in 

India,  305 
Koh-i-Nur,  The:  carried  away  by  Nadir 

Shah,  354;  presented  to  Queen  Vic- 
toria, 226 
Komarov,    General :   his    campaigns    in 

Afghanistan,  265 
Koning,  Henry:  organizes  Swedish  East 

India  Company,  175 
Kshaltriyas:  rise  of,  43 
Kublai  Khan :  extends  the  use  of  paper 

notes,  102 
Kufa:  founded,  322 
Kulil  Sultan:  succeeds  Timur,  339 
Kumara-sambhava :  sketch  of,  53 
Kumarila :  teachings  of,  76,  80 
Kuriah  Muriah  Islands :  sketch  of,  19 
Kush-ab:  battle  of  (1857),  363 
Kutab  Shahi  Dynasty:  founded,  106 
Kutab-ud-din,    king    of    Delhi :     founds 

dynasty,  96 


Laccadive  Islands :   description  of,   18 

Laing,  Samuel :  sketch  of,  244 

Lake,  Gerard,  Viscount  Lake:  his  cam- 
paign in  India,  136;  his  campaign  in 
Hindustan,  201 

Lakshman  Sen :  defeated  by  the  Mo- 
hammedans, 96 

Lancaster,  James :  visits  India,  157 ;  es- 
tablishes commercial  relations  with 
Indian  kings,  159 

Lansdowne,  Henry  Charles  Keith  Petty- 
Fitzmaurice,  Marquis  of:  his  gover- 
nor-generalship of  India,  268 

Laswari:  battle  of  (1803),  136,  201 

Law,  Edward,  Baron  Ellenborough :  see 
Ellenborough,   Edward  Law,   Baron 

Law,  Sir  Edward  FitzGerald :  finance 
member  of  the  governor-general's 
council,  274;  value  of  his  work  in 
India,  282 

Law,  John:  revives  French  interest  in 
India,  170 

Lawrence,  Sir  Henry  Montgomery :  ap- 
pointed to  be  resident  at  Lahore, 
221;  death  of,  237 


414 


INDEX 


Lawrence,  Sir  John  Laird  Mair:  sketch 
of,  222;  administrator  of  the  Pun- 
jab, 223;  anticipates  the  Mutiny, 
235;  becomes  governor-general  of 
India,  245 
Lawrence,  Stringer:  at  siege  of  Pondi- 
cherri,  179 

Lawrence,  Sir  Walter  Roper:  sketch  of, 
277;  attends  the  Prince  of  Wales  on 
his  visit  to  India,  309 

Leaf-wearers :  see  Juangs 

Leedes:  enters  the  service  of  the  Great 
Mogul,  157 

Legazpi:  establishes  Spanish  control  in 
the  Philippines,  157 

Lessar,  Paul:  delimits  the  boundary  be- 
tween Russian  territories  and 
Afghanistan,  265 

Linschoten,  John  Higghen  van:  pub- 
lishes a  guide  to  India,  154 

Lockhart,  William  Stephen  Alexander: 
occupies  Waziristan,  277 

Lodi,  House  of:  reign  of,  104 

Lomakin,  General :  defeated  by  the 
Tekkes,  367 

Low,  Robert  Cunliffe:  his  campaign  for 
the  relief  of  Chitral,  278 

Lower  Bengal:  conquered  by  Bakhtiyar 
Khilji  (1203),  95;  early  history  of, 
107;  captured  by  Akbar,  113 

Lower  Ganges  Canal:  sketch  of,  223 

Lucknow:  siege  of  (1857),  237 

Lucknow:  Treaty  of  (1801),  198 

Lumsden,  Sir  Peter  Stark:  British  rep- 
resentative to  the  Afghan  Frontier 
Commission,  265 

Lutf  Ali,  shah  of  Persia:  reign  of,  356 

Lyall,  Sir  Alfred  Comyn :  sketch  of,  263 

Lyall,  Sir  James  Broadwood :  sketch  of, 
264 

Lytton,  Edward  Robert  Bulwer  Lytton, 
Earl  of:  his  governor-generalship  of 
India,  254 


M 


Macaulay,  Thomas  Babington,  Baron 
Macaulay:  made  legal  member  of 
the  governor-general's  council,    214 

Macdonald,  James  Ronald  Leslie:  com- 
mands military  escort  of  Tibetan 
mission,  298 


McMahon,  Colonel:  his  mission  in  Seis- 

tan,  296 
Macnaghten,   Sir   William   Hay:    secre- 
tary to  Lord  Auckland,  215;  sketch 
of,  218  ' 
M'Neill,  Sir  John :  his  mission  to  Teher- 
an, 361 
Macpherson,  Sir  Herbert  Taylor:  com- 
mands Indian    troops    in    Egyptian 

campaign,  259 
Macpherson,  Sir  John:  sketch  of,  195 
Madhu  Rao,  Maratha  peshwa,  133 
Madhu  Rao  Narayan,  Maratha  peshwa: 

reign  of,  136 
Mad  Mullah:  at  war  with  the  English, 

278 
Madras:    founded,    163;    taken    by   the 

French  (1746),  I79J  siege  of  (1781), 

193 
Magellan,  Fernando:  voyage  of,  157 
Mahabat  Khan:  rebellion  of,  118 
Mahabharata:  description  of,  49 
Maharajpur:  battle  of  (1843),  219 
Mahe     de     la     Bourdonnais,     Bertrand 

Francois :  his  campaign  in  India,  179 
Mahmud,  Afghan  king:  reign  of,  348 
Mahmud,   prince   of   Ghazni:    reign   of, 

91;  conquests  of,  328 
Mahmud  Shah,  of    Afghanistan:    reign 

of,  216 
Mahmud    Tughlak,     sultan    of     India: 

reign  of,  104 
Mahrattas:  see  Marathas 
Maine,  Henry  James  Sumner :  law  mem- 
ber of  the  Indian  councils,  245 
Maiwand:  battle  of  (1879),  258 
Makbul  Khan:  administration  of,  103 
Malabari,  Behramji  Merwanji:  reforms 

of,  271 
Malacca:  sieges  of  (1578),  152;  (1615), 

152;  (1628),  152 
Malak   Shah,    Persian  ruler:   reign  of, 

330 
Malcolm,    Sir   John :    envoy   to    Persia, 

206,  359;  his  negotiations  with  the 

Marathas,  209 
Malwa:  siege  of  (1572),  113 
Man  Singh,  Raja:  aids  Akbar  the  Great, 

112 
Manila:  captured  by  the  English,  (1762), 

181 
Mansell,  Charles  Grenville :  administers 

the  Punjab,  222 


INDEX 


415 


Manu,  Code  of:  compiled,  49 

Manzikert:  battle  of  (1070),  330 

Maratha  Ditch:  erected,  182 

Maratha  War:  first,  136,  193;  second, 
136,  201;  third,  208 

Marathas  (Mahrattas)  :  rise  of,  121,  130 

Marignolli,  John  de:  visits  India,  142 

Maris:  description  of,  28 

Marshall,  John  Hubert:  appointed  direc- 
tor-general of  the  Archaeological 
Survey  of  India,  280 

Martin,  Francois:  his  campaigns  in  In- 
dia, 170 

Massey,  William  Nathaniel:  sketch  of, 
247 

Master,  Sir  Streynsham:  governor  of 
Bengal,  166 

Mayo,  Richard  Southwell  Bourke,  Earl 
of:  his  governor-generalship  of  In- 
dia, 248 

Mayo  College:  opened,  249 

Mauritius,  Island  of:  occupied  by  the 
English,  205 

Meerut:  massacre  of  (1399),  104;  out- 
break of  the  Mutiny  at,  234 

Megasthenes :  describes  India,  70 

Mehidpur:  battle  of  (1817),  209 

Merchant  Adventurers,  Company  of,  158 

Merv :  occupied  by  Russia,  264 

Metcalfe,  Charles  Theophilus,  Baron 
Metcalfe:  matriculates  at  the  Col- 
lege of  Fort  William,  202;  sent  as 
envoy  to  Lahore,  205 ;  his  governor- 
generalship  of  India,  215 

Miani:  battle  of  (1848),  219 

Michelborne,  Sir  Edward :  granted  li- 
cense to  trade  with  India,  159 

Middleton,  David :  commands  voyage  to 
India,   160 

Middleton,  Sir  Henry:  commands  voy- 
ages to  India,  159,  160 

Middleton,  Thomas  Fanshaw,  Bishop 
of  Calcutta,  206 

Mildenhall,  John :  sent  to  India  as  am- 
bassador, 158 

Minto,  Gilbert  John  Murray  Kynyn- 
mound  Elliot,  Earl  of:  his  governor- 
generalship  of  India,  306,  309 

Mir  Jafar :  claims  throne  of  Bengal,  183 ; 
dethroned,  186;  restored,  187;  be- 
queaths a  legacy  to  Clive,  188 

Mir  Jumla:  his  campaigns  in  the  north 
of  India,  123 


Mir  Kasim :  made  nawab  of  Bengal,  186 ; 

deposed,  187 
Mir  Wais:  founds  Afghan  kingdom,  348 
Mirza  Taki:  becomes  vizir,  362;  sketch 

of,  363 
Moguls:  invade  India,  97 
Mogul  Dynasty,  109 
Mohammed,   Mogul   shah:   defeated   by 

the  Persians,  353 
Mohammed  Ali:  see  Wala-jah 
Mohammed  Hasan  Khan,  chief  of  the 

Khajars  :  reign  of,  355 
Mohammed  Mirza,  shah  of  Persia:  de- 
feated by  Russians,  359;   reign  of, 
360 
Mohammed  of  Ghor:  career  of,  94 
Mohammed  the  Prophet,  sketch  of,  88, 

321 
Mohammed   Tughlak,   sultan   of   India: 

reign  of,  101 
Mohammedan    Anglo-Oriental    College : 

opened,  256 
Mohammedans :  conquer  India,  88 
Moira,   Francis   Rawdon-Hastings,  Earl 
of:  see  Hastings,  Francis  Rawdon- 
Hastings,  Marquis  of 
Molucca    Islands :    annexed    to    British 

empire,  205 
Montgomery,  Robert:  sketch  of,  222 
Morier:  negotiates  Treaty  of  Teheran, 

360 
Morris,  Sir  John  Henry:  sketch  of,  252 
Most  Eminent  Order  of  the  Indian  Em- 
pire: founded,  255 
Muavia,   Mohammedan  kalif:   reign  of, 

326 
Mubarik,  king  of  Delhi :  reign  of,  10 1 
Mudki:  battle  of  (1846),  221 
Muir,  William:  sketch  of,  252 
Muiz-ud-din :  see  Mohammed  of  Ghor 
Multan:  battle  of  (326  B.  c),  69 
Munro,  Sir  Hector:  crushes  Sepoy  mu- 
tiny,   187;   at  the  battle   of  Baxar, 

135,  187 

Munro,  Sir  Thomas:  his  campaign  in 
Burma,  211 

Murad:  death  of,  121 

Murshid  Kuli  Khan  (Jafar  Khan),  na- 
wab of  Bengal:  makes  his  province 
independent,  126;  sketch  of,  181 

Musa  al  Kasim:  sketch  of,  340 

Muskhu-'d-Din :  see  Sa'di 

Mutiny  of  1857,  The,  232 


416 


INDEX 


Muttra:  destroyed,  127 

Muzaffar  ud-din,  shah  of  Persia:  reign 

of,  364 
Muzaffarid  Dynasty:  reign  of,  336 
Mysore  War,  196 


N 


Nadir,  shah  of  Persia:  invades  India, 
127 ;  his  conquests,  350 ;  reign  of,  352 

Nagpur:  battle  of  (1817),  209;  becomes 
part  of  the  Central  Provinces,  229 

Naini  Tal:  landslip  at  (1880),  259 

Nalanda,  Monastery  of:  description  of, 

64 
Nana  Sahib:  inherits  property  of  Baji 

Rao,  229;  leads  the  Mutiny  of  1857, 
236 
Nanak  Shah:  teachings  of,  84 
Nanking,  Peace  of   (1842),  213 
Napier,  Sir  Charles  James :  his  campaign 

in  Sind,  219 
Napier,  Francis,   Baron  Ettrick  of  Et- 

trick:  sketch  of,  252 
Napier,  Robert  Cornelis,  Baron  Napier 
of  Magdala:  lays  out  roads  and  ca- 
nals,  226;    acting    governor-general 
of  India,  244 
Napoleon    (I)     Bonaparte:    plans    con- 
quest of  India,  197 
Nasirulla  Khan :  visits  England,  'Z'j'j 
Nasr  ud-din,  shah  of  Persia:  reign  of, 

362 
Nasr-Ullah:  marriage  of,  353 
Nehavend:  battle  of  (641  a.  a),  323 
Newberry,  James :  settles  in  India,  157 
Newfoundland :  discovered,   156 
Nicholas   IV,   Pope :   sends   embassy  to 

Arghun,  335 
Nicholas  V,  Pope:  grants  jurisdiction  of 
African   discoveries   to   Portuguese, 
146 
Nicolas  III,  emperor  of  Russia:  visits 

India,  273 
Nicholson,  John:  sketch  of,  235 
Nikaia :  founded,  68 
Nikitin,  Athanasius:  visits  India,  141 
Nineveh:  battle  of  (627  a.d.),  321 
Nisibis:  siege  of,  318 
Nizam  Shahi  Dynasty:  founded,  106 
Nizam-ul-Mulk,  Persian  statesman:  ca- 
reer of,  331 


Nizam-ul-Mulk  Asof  Jah:  revolt  of, 
126;   founds  a  dynasty,  178 

Non-Aryans :  description  of,  25 

Nordenskjold:  discovers  the  North- 
east Passage,  156 

Norman,   Sir  Henry  Wylie:   sketch  of, 

251 

Northbrook,     Thomas     George     Baring, 

Baron:  his  governor-generalship  of 

India,  253 
Northwest   Frontier    Province :    created, 

286 
Northwest  Passage:   search  for,   156 
Northwestern     Provinces :     sketch     of, 

203 
Nott,   William :   his   campaign  in   India, 

218 
Nur   Jahan    (Nur    Mahal)  :    sketch   of, 

117 


O 


O'Connor,   W.   F.    T. :   member   of   the 

Tibetan  mission,  297 
O'Shaughnessy,    William     Brooke:     di- 
rector general  of  telegraphs  in   In- 
dia, 225 
Ochterlony,      David :      his      campaigns 

against  the  Gurkhas,  207 
Odenatus,    prince    of    Palmyra:    defeats 

Persian  army,  317 
Omar,    Mohammedan   kalif:    commands 

invasion  of  Persia,  322 
Omar  Khayyam :  sketch  of,  332,  333 
Ommeyad  Dynasty:  condition  of  Persia 

under,  325 
Oriental    Trading    Company,    Austrian : 

organized,  173 
Orissa:  captured  by  Moguls  (1573),  113 
Orissa  Famine,  The   (1866),  245 
Ostend  Company:  sketch  of,  171 
Oudh :  annexed  to  British  India,  229 
Oudh  Rent  Act  (1885),  260 
Oudh  Tenancy  Act  (1868),  245 
Outram,   Sir  James :   makes   friends   of 
the   Bhils  for  the  English,  28;   as- 
sumes government  of  Oudh,  230 ;  his 
campaigns  in  the  Mutiny,  237 ;   his 
campaign  against   Persia,  363 
Oxenden,    Sir    George:    defends    Surat, 
131 ;     defends     English    factory     at 
Surat,  165 


INDEX 


417 


P,Q 

Pacheco,  Duarte:  his  campaign  in  India, 

148 
Paiva    (Payva),    Alfonso    de:    sent    to 

Abyssinia,  144 
Palakollu:  built,  155 
Palmer,   Sir  Arthur   Power:   sketch  of, 

279 
Pandita  Ramabai:  her  work  for  Hindu 

widows,  272 
Pandya,  Kingdom  of:  description  of,  104 
Panipat:  battles  of  (1526),  109;  (1556), 

in;   (1761),  128,  133 
Panniar:  battle  of  (1843),  219 
Paris,  Treaties  of  (1763),  181;   (1858), 

364 

Patala:  see  Haidarabad 

Paterson,  William:  organizes  a  Scottish 
East  India  company,  171 

Patna:  massacre  of,  187 

Patuas:  see  Juangs 

Paul,  emperor  of  Russia:  plans  invasion 
of  India,  198 

Pearse,  Colonel :  his  campaign  against 
Haidar  Ali,  193 

Penal  Code:  becomes  law  (1861),  244 

Peninsular  and  Oriental  Steam  Naviga- 
tion Company :  incorporated,  224 

Perambakam:  battle  of,  193 

Permanent   Settlement,   195 

Perpetual  Company  of  the  Indies,  The: 
organized,  170 

Persia,  History  of:  the  Sassanian  dy- 
nasty, 313;  foreign  rule,  325;  the 
new  Persian  empire,  340;  modern 
Persia,  351 ;  the  government  of 
Persia,  371 

Peshawar:  battle  of  (1008),  92 

Peter  the  Great,  emperor  of  Russia: 
sends  a  fleet  and  army  against  Per- 
sia, 349 

Phayre,  Sir  Arthur  Purves :  installed 
as  chief  commissioner  of  British 
Burma,  243 

Philip  IV,  king  of  France:  corresponds 
with  Arghun,  335 

Philip  II,  king  of  Spain :  unites  crowns 
of  Spain  and  Portugal,  152 

Philippines:  Spanish  control  established, 

157 
Pindar,  Sir  Paul:  member  of  Courten's 
Association,  158 


Pindaris:  revolt  of  (1815),  208 

Pitt,  William,  Earl  of  Chatham:  policy 

of,  180 
Pitt,  William,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Chat- 
ham; secures  the  passage  of  a  new 
India  bill,   194 
Pitt,  Thomas:  governor  of  Madras,  166 
Plague,  Bubonic:  sketch  of,  282 
Plassey:  battle  of  (1757),  183 
Pliitschau :  missionary  efforts  of,  171 
Pollock,  George :  his  campaigns  in  India, 

218 
Polo,  Marco:  visits  the  East,  141,  336 
Pondicherri:  siege  of  (1748),  179;  cap- 
tured by  the  English   (1761),  170 
Poona,  Treaty  of  (1817),  209 
Popham,     Captain:     captures     Gwalior, 

193 

Porter,  Endymion :  member  of  Cour- 
ten's Association,  158 

Porto  Novo:  settled,  171 

Porus :  defeated  by  Alexander  the  Great, 
67 

Pottinger,  Eldred:  defends  Herat,  217, 
361 

Prendergast,  Sir  Harry  North  Dalrym- 
ple :  his  campaign  in  Burma,  266 

Prinsep,  Sir  Henry  Thoby:  retires  from 
office,  273 

Prithwi  Raja,  prince  of  Delhi:  legend 
of  his  daughter's  marriage,  94;  de- 
feated by  Mohammed  of  Ghor,  95 

Pulicat:  settled,  154 

Punjab,  The:  annexed  to  British  pos- 
sessions, 226 

Punjab  Land  Alienation  Act,  282 

Punjab  Wars:  see  Sikh  Wars 

Purana,  The  Vishnu:  description  of,  83 


Raffles,  Thomas   Stamford :   administers 

Java,  205 
Raghuba:   claims   Maratha  throne,   136, 

192 
Raghuji  Bhonsla:  invades  Bengal,  133 
Raghu-vansa:   description  of,  53 
Rajputs   (Kshattriyas)  :  rise  of,  43 
Ram  Mohan  Rai,  Raja:  teachings  of,  87 
Ramanand:  teachings  of,  84 
Ramanuja:  reforms  of,  83 


418 


INDEX 


Ramayana,  Indian  epic,  26,  52 
Ramsay,  James  Andrew  Brown,  Earl  of 

Dalhousie:     see    Dalhousie,    James 

Andrew  Brown,  Earl  of 
Rand :  murder  of,  283 
Ran  jit  Singh:  sketch  of,  220 
Rawdon,   Lord:    see    Hastings,    Francis 

Rawdon-Hastings,  Marquis  of 
Rawlinson,      Sir      Henry      Creswicke: 

sketch  of,  217 
Raziya,  queen  of  Delhi :  reign  of,  197 
Reay,    Lord:    recalled    from    Bombay, 

273 
Redcliffe,  Lord   Strafford:   his  negotia- 
tions with  Russia,  363 
Regulating  Act  (1773),  190 
Reunion:  occupied  by  the  French,  170 
Ridgeway,    Sir   Joseph    West:    delimits 
the  boundary  between  Russian  ter- 
ritories and  Afghanistan,  265 
Rig- Veda:  description  of,  38 
Rintimbur:  siege  of  (1300),  99 
Ripon,  George  Frederick   Samuel   Rob- 
inson, Earl  of:  his  governor-gener- 
alship of  India,  258 
Riza   Kuli:   conquests   of  352;   blinded, 

354 

Roberts,  Frederick  Sleigh,  Earl  Roberts 
of  Kandahar,  Pretoria,  and  Water- 
ford:  his  campaign  against  Yakub 
Khan,  257 ;  his  plans  for  frontier  de- 
fense, 269;  reforms  of,  272 

Robertson,  George  Scott:  besieged  in 
Chitral,  278 

Robinson,  George  Frederick  Samuel, 
Earl  of  Ripon:  see  Ripon,  George 
Frederick  Samuel  Robinson,  Earl 
of 

Roe,  Sir  Thomas:  sent  to  the  court  of 
Jahangir,  160 

Rohillas:  defeat  of,  191 

Rokh,  shah  of  Persia:  reign  of,  354 

Romanus  Diogenes,  emperor  of  Rome: 
defeated  by  Persians,  330 

Rose,  Hugh  Henry,  Baron  Strathnairn: 
his  campaign  in  central  India,  238 

Royal  George:  built,  163 

Royal  Indian  Engineering  College:  es- 
tablishes a  course  in  forestry,  7 

Royal  Titles  Act  (1876),  255 

Rustam:  death  of,  322 

Ryder,  C.  H.  D. :  visits  the  Tashi  Lama, 
302 


Saadat  Ali  Khan :  becomes  an  independ- 
ent ruler,  126 
Sad  Ali  Mohammed:  founds  the  Babis, 

362 
Sa'd  ibn  Walik:  conquers  Persia,  322 
Sa'di    (Muskhu-'d-Din)  :   sketch  of,  333 
Saf dar  Jang,  nawab  of  Oudh :  reign  of, 

126 
Safawi  Dynasty:  reign  of,  340 
Saffarid  Dynasty:  reign  of,  327 
Safi  (Sophi)  I,  shah  of  Persia:  reign  of, 

346 
Safi   (Sophi)   II,  shah  of  Persia:  reign 

of,  347 
Sah  Dynasty,  The,  74 
Sahu,  Maratha  king:  reign  of,  132 
Saint  Thome:  battle  of  (1746),  179 
Saka   (Scythian)    Era:   founded,  74 
Salbai,  Treaty  of  (1782),  136,  193 
Sale,  Sir  Robert  Henry:  defends  Jala- 
labad, 218 
Salim:  see  Jahangir 
Salivahana,   Indian   king:   at   war   with 

the  Scythians,  74 
Samarkand :    captured    by    the    Moguls 

(1497),  109 
Sama-Veda :  rise  of,  42 
Sambhaji,  Maratha  king:  reign  of,  132; 

death  of,  122 
Samrah:     battles    of     (363    A.D.),    318 

(1733),  351 
Samvat  Era:  founded,  73 
Sandeman,    Sir   Robert   Groves:    sketch 

of,  266 
Sangala:  battle  of   (327  b.c),  68 
Sankara  Acharya:  sketch  of,  80 
Santa  Stefano,  Hieronimo  di:  visits  In- 
dia, 141 
Santals:  description  of,  29 
Sapor:  see  Shahpur 
Saragossa,  Treaty  of  (1529),  146 
Samanid  Dynasty:  reign  of,  328 
San  jar,  Persian  sultan:  reign  of,  331 
Sassanian  Dynasty,  313 
Sataro :  escheats  to  the  British  govern- 
ment, 228 
Sayyid  Dynasty:  reign  of,  104 
Scott-Moncrieff,    Sir    Colin    Campbell : 
president  of  the  irrigation  commis- 
sion, 280 
Scythians:  invade  India,  72 


INDEX 


419 


Scythian  Era:  see  Saka  Era 

Segauli,  Treaty  of   (1815),  207 

Seleuceus  Nicator:  receives  Bactria 
and  India,  69 

Selim,  Ottoman  sultan:  at  war  with 
Persia,  341 

Seljuks :  rise  of,  329 

Sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857,  The,  232 

Serampur:  founded,  171 

Seringapatam :   siege  of   (1799),  200 

Seven  Years'  War:  its  effect  in  India, 
179 

Shad-ul-Mulk :  her  relations  with  Kulil 
Sultan,  339 

Shah  Alam,  Mogul  emperor:  claims 
Bengal,  185 ;  at  war  with  the  Eng- 
lish, 135,  187 

Shah  Jahan,  Mogul  emperor:  reign  of, 
119;  captures  Hugh   (1629),  150 

Shah  Rokh,  Persian  ruler :  reign  of,  339 

Shahab-ud-din :  see  Mohammed  of  Ghor 

Shahji  Bhonsla:  rise  of,  130 

Shahpur  (Sapor)  I,  king  of  Persia: 
reign  of,  316 

Shahpur  (II)  the  Great,  king  of  Persia: 
reign  of,  318 

Shahr  Barz:  conquers  Persia,  321 

Shakban  Khan :  overthrows  the  Timu- 
rid  dynasty  in  Turkestan,  341 

Sharpay,  Captain :  obtains  grant  of  free 
trade  at  Aden,  160 

Sher  Ali,  Afghan  ruler:  disputed  acces- 
sion of,  247;  intrigues  with  Russia, 
256 

Sher  Shah,  governor  of  Bengal:  defeats 
Humayun  the  Mogul,  no 

Shiraz:  siege  of  (1790),  356 

Shirley,  Sir  Anthony:  reorganizes  Per- 
sian army,  343 

Shirley,  Sir  Robert :  reorganizes  Persian 
army,  343 

Shore,  Sir  John :  financial  reforms  of, 
196;  made  governor-general,  196 

Shuja,  amir  of  Afghanistan :  exiled, 
216;  attempts  to  regain  his  throne, 
217 

Shuja-ud-daula,  nawab  of  Oudh :  reign 
of,  126;  at  war  with  the  English, 
187 

Sighelmus  of  Sherborne:  said  to  have 
visited  India,  156 

Sikandar  (Sekunder)  :  at  battle  of  Sir- 
hind,  no 


Sikh  War,  225 
Sikhs,  The :  sketch  of,  220 
Siladitya,  an  Indian  king:  reign  of,  63 
Simla :    sketch  of,  207 
Simovich,  Count:  his  influence  in  Per- 
sia, 360 
Sind:  conquered  by  the  Moguls  (1592), 

"3 

Siraj-ud-daula    (Surajah   Dowlah),   na- 
wab of  Bengal :   at  war  with  Eng- 
lish,   182 
Sirhind:  battle  of  (1556),  no 
Siva-worship :  description  of,  81 
Sivaji,    Maratha    leader:    at    war    with 
Aurangzeb,  122;  career  of,  130;  pil- 
lages  Surat,   165 
Sitabaldi:  battle  of  (1817),  209 
Skobelev,   Mikhail :   storms   Geok  Tepe, 

367. 
Slave  Kings,  Dynasty  of :  founded,  97 
Sleeman,  Captain :  suppresses  thags,  214 
Smith,  Harry :  wins  battle  of  Aliwal,  221 
Smith   (Smythe),  Thomas:  governor  of 

the    English   East    India    Company, 

158 
Sobraon:  battle  of  (1846),  221 
Socotra :  occupied  by  the  British,  255 
Sophi :  see  Safi 
Staper,  Richard:   promotes  the  English 

East  India  Company,  158 
Statistical   Survey  of  India:   organized, 

250 
Stephens,  Thomas :  visits  India,   156 
Stewart,     Sir    Donald :     his     campaigns 

against    the     Afghans,    257;    made 

commander-in-chief        of        Indian 

forces,  261 
Stokes,  Whitley:  sketch  of,  262 
Strachey,  John :  acting  governor-general 

of  India,  253 
Strachey,  Richard :  sketch  of,  246 ;  pres- 
ident of  the  famine  commission,  255 
Strathnairn,  Hugh  Henry  Rose,  Baron : 

see     Rose,     Hugh     Henry,     Baron 

Strathnairn 
Su :  drive  out  the  Greek  dynasty  from 

the  Bactrian  kingdom,  72 
Subuktigin,    prince   of    Ghazni :    at   war 

with  Jaipal  of  Lahore,  91 
Succession,  War  of  Austrian :  its  effect 

in  India,  179 
Sudder-ud-Din :  sketch  of,  340 
Sudras :  rise  of,  43 


420 


INDEX 


Suffern  de  Saint-Tropez,  Pierre  Andre 
de:  his  campaigns  in  India,  194 

Suez  Canal:  opened,  138 

Suleiman  the  Magnificent,  sultan  of  Tur- 
key: attempts  to  conquer  India, 
150;  reign  of,  342 

Suleiman,  shah  of  Persia:  see  Safi  II 

Sulf  AH :  fall  of,  348 

Surajah   Dowlah:    see   Siraj-ud-daula 

Surat:  raided  by  the  Marathas,  131 

Surat,  Treaty  of  (i775),  192 

Swally:  battle  of  (1612),  160 


Tordesillas,  Treaty  of  (1494),  146 
Torrens,  Henry  Whitelock:  secretary  to 

Lord  Auckland,  215 
Tranquebar:  founded,  171 
Trevelyan,  Charles  Edward:  sketch  of, 

247 
Twenty-Four   Parganas :   transferred  to 

the  Company,   184 
Tucker,    Henry    St.    George :    secretary 

for  Wellesley,  202 
Tughlak  Dynasty:  founded,  101 
Turk,  J.  C. :  builds  the  Gokteik  viaduct, 

290 
Turkmanchai,  Treaty  of  (1829),  359 


Taj  Mahal:  built,  119 

Talikot:  battle  of  (1565),  90,  107,  151 

Tamasp    (Thamas)    I,   shah  of   Persia: 

reign  of,  342 
Tamasp  II,  shah  of  Persia,  regains  his 

throne,  350 
Tantia  Topi :  career  of,  239 
Taylor,   Reynell  George:   his   career   in 

India,  223 
Tegnapatam:  founded,  166 
Teheran,  Treaty  of  (1814),  360 
Tel-el-Kebir :  battle  of   (1882),  259 
Temple,  Richard,  Baron  Temple:  his  ca- 
reer in  India,  223;   sketch  of,  251; 
in  charge  of  the  famine  relief  ad- 
ministration, 255 
Thags:  suppression  of,  214 
Thaneswar:  battle  of  (1 191),  94 
Thebau,  Burmese  king:  at  war  with  the 

British,  266 
Thomason,  James:  his  services  in  India, 

223 
Thompson,      Sir      Augustus      Rivers: 

sketch  of,  262 
Three  Collections,  The,  60 
Tibet:  opening  of,  297 
Tibet,  The  Opening  of,  377 
Timur  (Timur-i-Leng,  Tamerlane)  :  in- 
vades   India,    104;    invades    Persia, 
337 
Tipu  Sultan:  at  war  with  the  English, 
194;  conspires  against  English,  197 
Tirah  Campaign  (1897),  278 
Todar  Mall,  Raja:  services  of,  112,  116 
Toghrul  Beg:  conquests  of,  330 
Topal  Osman:  his  campaign  against  the 
Persians,  351 


U,  V 

Uchh  (Alexandria)  :  founded,  69 
Udhunala:  battle  of  (1763),  187 
United  Company  of  Merchants  of  Eng- 
land   trading    to    the    East    Indies, 
The:  organized,  159 
Universities  Act  (1904),  291 
Usman     Khalif:     sends     expedition    to 

Bombay  coast,  88 
Vaidyas :  rise  of,  48 
Valerian,    emperor   of   Rome :    captured 

by  the  Persians,  317 
Valian:  leads  religious  revolt,  318 
Vallabha-Swami :  teachings  of,  86 
Van  Cortlandt,  Colonel:  trains  the  Sikh 

army,  221 
Vansittart,  Henry:  attempts  to  compro- 
mise with  Mir  Kasim,  187 
Vartan:  leads  religious  revolt,  318 
Varthema,    Ludovico    di:    visits    India, 

142 
Veda:  composed,  25 
Vedas,  The  Four,  42 
Vellore,  Mutiny  of   (1806),  204 
Ventura,  General :  trains  Sikh  army,  221 
Vernacular   Press   Act:   passed    (1878), 

256;  repealed  (1882),  260 
Versailles,  Treaty  of  (1783),  194 
Victoria,  queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land   and    empress    of    India:    pro- 
claimed empress,  254;  death  of,  287 
Vijayanagar  (Narsingha),  Kingdom  of: 

sketch  of,  105 
Vikramaditya,  king  of  Ujjain  in  Malwa: 

reign  of,  73 
Vishnu-worship:  description  of,  82 


INDEX 


421 


W 


Wajid  AH,  king  of  Oudh:  deposed,  230 

Wala-jah  (Mohammed  Ali)  :  claims 
throne  of  Arcot,  180 

Wales,  Albert  Victor,  Prince  of:  visits 
India,  273 

Wales,  George  Frederick,  Prince  of: 
visits  India,  309 

Wandiwash:  battle  of  (1760),  180 

Watson,  Charles:  at  the  capture  of  Cal- 
cutta, 182 

Wedderburn,  Sir  William:  supports  the 
Indian  National  Congress,  270 

Wellington,  Arthur  Wellesley,  Duke  of: 
his  campaigns  in  India,  136,  201 

Wellesley,  Richard  Cowley  or  Welles- 
ley,  Marquis  of:  made  governor- 
general  of  India,  196 

Westland,  James :  finance  member  of  the 
governor-general's  council,  274 

White,  Claude :  member  of  the  Tibetan 
mission,  297 

White,  Sir  George  Stuart:  sketch  of, 
278 

Widow-burning:   abolished,  213 

Willoughby,  Sir  Hugh :  searches  for  the 
Northeast  Passage,  156 

Wilson,  James :  financial  member  of  the 
Indian  council,  243 

Wilson,  T.  F. :  becomes  military  mem- 
ber of  the  governor-general's  coun- 
cil, 261 

Women :  position  of,  in  ancient  India, 
38;  condition  of,  among  the  Ar- 
yans, 75;  spiritual  independence  of, 
in  Orissa,  85 


Wood,  Charles,  Viscount  Halifax :  pres- 
ident of  the  board  of  control, 
225 


X,  Y,  Z 

Yajnavalkya,  Code  of:  compiled,  49 

Yajur-Veda:  rise  of,  42 

Yakub,  ruler  of  Eastern  Turkestan : 
seeks  recognition  from  Indian  gov- 
ernment, 249 

Yakub  Khan:  made  regent  of  Afghanis- 
tan, 257 

Yale,  Elihu:  governor  of  Madras,  166 

Yandabu,  Treaty  of  (1826),  212 

Yezdigerd  III,  king  of  Persia:  reign  of, 
321 

Younghusband,  Francis  Edward:  in 
charge  of  the  Tibetan  mission,  297 

Yusuf  ben  Leis,  Mohammedan  kalif: 
founds  Saffarid  dynasty,  327 

Zafar  Khan:  becomes  sovereign  of  the 
Deccan,  105 

Zaku   Sadik,  shah  of  Persia:   reign  of, 

355 

Zanzan:  siege  of  (1848),  362 

Zeman,  amir  of  Afghanistan:  reign  of, 
216 

Zend  Dynasty:  reign  of,  355 

Zend-Avesta:  compiled,  316 

Ziegenbalz:  missionary  efforts  of,  171 

Zizam:  battle  of  (1827),  359 

Zubov,  Plato:  his  campaign  against 
Persia,  358 

Zul-fikar  Khan:  controls  the  Mogul  em- 
perors, 125 


A.      45 


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